Podcasts about musical arts

Jenny Mitchell is an executive coach, a podcaster, and a published author who is on a mission to help people have more meaningful conversations. What are the key messages in your book Embracing Ambition? How did your doctorate in Musical Arts shape your business? Why do so many women in leadership roles often place their value in the hands of others? How can women take back control and reclaim the word ambition? You say there are five key pillars that play a role in women's leadership journeys. What are they? Jenny Mitchell Jenny Mitchell is an executive coach, a podcaster, and a published author who is on a mission to help people have more meaningful conversations. She is a lifelong learner who holds an executive coaching degree for Royal Roads University, a CFRE fundraising designation, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook in piano performance. Jenny is the Founder & CEO of Chavender and most frequently works with executive level leaders in both non-profit and corporate settings. Excellent Executive Coaching Podcast If you have enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. We would love for you to leave a review. The EEC podcasts are sponsored by MKB Excellent Executive Coaching that helps you get from where you are to where you want to be with customized leadership and coaching development programs. MKB Excellent Executive Coaching offers leadership development programs to generate action, learning, and change that is aligned with your authentic self and values. Transform your dreams into reality and invest in yourself by scheduling a discovery session with Dr. Katrina Burrus, MCC to reach your goals. Your host is Dr. Katrina Burrus, MCC, founder and general manager of Excellent Executive Coaching a company that specializes in leadership development.

Peter Wilson shares some "behind the scenes" stories from the Obama White House as he joins the podcast. Peter served as concertmaster for "The President's Own" Marine Band during his illustrious service as a military musician. Peter  is a multifaceted violinist, conductor, arranger, and composer Peter currently serves as ⁠Music Director⁠ of the ⁠Richmond Philharmonic⁠ and ⁠The American Prize⁠-winning ⁠Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra⁠ in Virginia as well as Artistic Director and Conductor of the ⁠American Festival Pops Orchestra⁠ in the National Capital Region. He began his career as Concertmaster of the Walt Disney World Orchestra, has conducted the National Symphony and the National Gallery of Art Orchestras, and holds degrees from Northwestern and Catholic University, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts.Don't miss Peter and his great storytelling on this week's show.

Renowned Urbana thereminist and pianist Joy Yang, Ph.D, has a new album, "Live On." It's a live concert recording featuring original jazz compositions and arrangements of standards. The group describes the album as "a journey through time, space, rain and pain, emerging joyously in a dance that celebrates life." Yang is also the founder of the Interdisciplinary Institute, which facilitates a laboratory, or hub for creative play and art-science interchange.  Guest:   Joy Yang, Ph.D Pianist, Theraminist Founder, Interdisciplinary Institute Doctoral candidate in Musical Arts and Jazz Performance

Peter Wilson joins the podcast! Join Rick and Ron as they have talk about Peter's career as an artist entrepreneur.Peter Wilson is an engaging and multifaceted violinist, conductor, arranger, and composer whose artistry has been noted as “first-class” by The Washington Post. He is the former senior enlisted music advisor to The White House, where he led countless ensembles and performed as a Marine violinist for 30 years in direct support of five Presidents. Upon retiring as String Section Commander of the Marine Band, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Peter currently serves as Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic and The American Prize-winning Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra in Virginia as well as Artistic Director and Conductor of the American Festival Pops Orchestra in the National Capital Region. He began his career as Concertmaster of the Walt Disney World Orchestra, has conducted the National Symphony and the National Gallery of Art Orchestras, and holds degrees from Northwestern and Catholic University, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts.

From the moment she heard a guitar being played in an empty classroom at her convent school in the Philippines in 1961, June Millington knew what she wanted to do with her life: rock and roll. So when a girl called up June and her sister and asked if they wanted to start a band, the answer was hell yeah. They went on to become Fanny, the first all-female rock band to release an album with a major record label. June and her bandmates moved into a house in LA, toured the world and won fans like David Bowie. But they were also up against sexist stereotypes, skeptical audiences and critics who couldn’t believe that a group of women could rock just as hard as any guy. But June wasn’t about to let that stop her. This is the story of how she stuck it to the man and blazed a trail for generations of female musicians to come. June is the co-founder of the Institute for the Musical Arts, which offers workshops and events for women in music: https://ima.org/ We want YOUR stories for our Girlfriends hotline! Did your bestie ever bail you out of an awful date with a fake emergency phone call? Or show up on your doorstep with three weeks’ worth of lasagne when you’d just had a baby? Or sit with you in solidarity while you grieved the loss of a beloved grandparent? We want stories that are big or small, meaningful or silly. Record yours as a voice memo (under 90 seconds) and email to thegirlfriends@novel.audio. Please don’t include your own name or anyone else’s real names. The Girlfriends: Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel visit Novel.AudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 ABOUT OUR GUEST:  Jenny Mitchell is an executive coach, a podcaster, and a published author who is on a mission to help people have more meaningful conversations. She is a lifelong learner who holds an executive coaching degree from Royal Roads University, a CFRE fundraising designation, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook in piano performance. Jenny is the Founder & CEO of Chavender, a sought-after partner for companies in Canada and the U.S. in the areas of executive coaching, mentorship, talent development, succession planning and group coaching in both non-profit and corporate settings. Jenny's engaging style makes her a sought-after keynote speaker, having presented at major Fundraising Leadership Conferences (AFP, CAGP, AHP, Planet Philanthropy, bbcon) across North America as well as for the Government of Canada and corporate America. She fulfills her mission to help #2s become #1's in work and life through both one-on-one and group coaching experiences for women leaders. CONNECT WITH JENNY Website: https://chavender.com/ Personal Social Media: LinkedIn  Twitter(X) Business Social Media:  Facebook   YouTube  EPISODE AND EMPOWERING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY LINKS Book:  Embracing Ambition – Empowering Women to Step Out, Be Seen, and Lead Embrace Ambition Conference Book: The Big Leap Empowering Women in Industry Membership Empowering Women in Industry Magazine Empowering Women in Industry Website Empowering Women in Industry Virtual Events  QUOTES AND KEY TAKEAWAYS “I have never gone wrong on betting on myself.” “Confidence is having the trust and knowing in your abilities that even when you're in a situation that you don't understand that you can trust yourself to figure it out.” “Helping Number 2s become Number 1s in work and life. They get some competent as a Number 2 they never get to access their place of genius.  They get stuck or pigeonholed.” “As soon as you identify something as a problem, it's attached to a threat. Versus calling it ‘solution strategy' which immediately puts it in their prefrontal cortex. Immediately has it as ‘What options do I have?' “ Glass Cliff Assignment: “Brought in as a last chance candidate to a position because no one else in their right mind would take it.” Visionary: “Successful women tend to be able to see something with potential before others see it and be able to bring others along.” “We need to find a way to use and leverage our social capital (our political capital) for our own uses because we are really good at doing it for others.” “How can you change your relationship to self doubt? If you accepted from now on that those voices are there; they're just there.  How you react to them or respond to them , you get to have control over.” 

Our book is: The Burnout Workbook, by Drs. Amelia Nagoski and Emily Nagoski, the experts behind the New York Times bestselling book Burnout. This interactive workbook is designed to help you solve the cycle of overwhelm and exhaustion and empower yourself to create positive change. We all want to achieve wellness. But wellness is not a state of mind or a state of being—it's a state of action. It's the freedom to oscillate through all the cycles of being human: from effort to rest, sleeping to waking, autonomy to connection. Burnout, on the other hand, happens when we get stuck. The Burnout Workbook will help you notice when you get stuck and show you how to get unstuck. Inside it you'll find engaging questions, exercises to practice skills, visual guides, stories, and more! Feel better, minimize stress, manage your emotions, and live a more joyful life. Whether or not you've read Burnout, this workbook will help you learn what true wellness can look like in your life. You can find a worksheet from the book here. Our guest is: Dr. Amelia Nagoski. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts, and was an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music at Western New England University. Her job is to run around waving her arms and making funny noises and generally doing whatever it takes to help singers get in touch with their internal experience. The co-author is: Dr. Emily Nagoski, who is the award-winning author of Come as You Are; and Come Together; and co-author of Burnout, and The Burnout Workbook. She earned an MS in counseling and a PhD in health behavior, both from Indiana University, with clinical and research training at the Kinsey Institute. Her job is to travel all over the world, training therapists, medical professionals, college students, and the general public about the science of women's sexual wellbeing. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is the creator and producer of the Academic Life podcast. Listeners may enjoy this playlist: How Can Mindfulness Help Meditation For Beginners Getting From To-Do to Done! Attention Skills You Will Get Through This Imposter Syndrome Leaving Academia: Pursuing Life Abroad Welcome to Academic Life, the podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! You can support the show by downloading or sharing episodes. Join us again to learn from more experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world. Missed any of the 250+ Academic Life episodes? Find them here. And thank you for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Send us a textDoug, Ben, and special guest Dr. Maeve Berry, collaborative pianist and resident artist at Pittsburg Opera, discuss higher education & pursuing a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) degree while enjoying beer from Colorado & Pennsylvania.

Do you want to transform your health with delicious, culturally inspired WFPB recipes? Join Gustavo as he shares their inspiring weight loss journeys and show you how to make flavorful, plant-based dishes!  Click here to watch!   https://youtube.com/live/cT54rKWceE0  

“In science, they're not tied to an outcome. They're open to the possibilities of what is going to result from an experiment. How freeing is that – not to be tied to a specific outcome. I've really tried to adopt that in my own personal life, the idea of just growing, learning, and being open. So many things are out of my control, so I might as well just be ready to go for the ride. I guess what I would tell young people is just equip yourself, make the best informed decision you can, then be at peace with it.”Dr. Julie Yu, an award-winning choral conductor and music educator, leads the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University as Director of Choral Activities and Canterbury Voices as Artistic Director. In these roles, she conducts and guides the acclaimed 150-voice Canterbury Voices ensemble and shapes the artistic vision of OCU's four major choirs, including the Chamber Choir and Ad Astra women's chorus. She also teaches conducting and graduate choral curriculum courses.Dr. Yu's choirs have performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and internationally in Austria, Czech Republic, France, and more. She was an ACDA International Conducting Exchange Fellow to Kenya in 2019 and has led All-State choruses across the United States.A sought-after presenter, conductor, and clinician, Dr. Yu has shared her expertise at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and European Music Educators Association. She is a past president of the ACDA's Southwestern Region and has been featured at events such as the International Dublin Choral Festival and European Music Educators Association Conference.Dr. Yu holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of North Texas, a Master's degree in Choral Conducting from Oklahoma State University, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Central Oklahoma.To get in touch with Julie, you can find her on Instagram (@julieyuoppenheim) or Facebook (@julie.yuoppenheim).Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

News headlines // 7:15AM // Alexia Wellbelove from the Australian Marine Conservation Society on the impacts of the marine heatwave and the need for urgent government action. Last month fisheries officials reported that a marine heatwave may have led to a fish kill on Western Australia's Pilbara coast. About 30,000 fish were found dead at Gnoorea Beach near Karratha. The marine heatwave is expected to continue throughout February amid warnings of "potentially catastrophic" effects. You can find out more about the work they do at the AMCS by going to https://www.marineconservation.org.au/  7:30AM // Emily Yamamoto,  a vocalist-composer based in Naarm and a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Griffith University, Queensland Conservatorium, about her research on theories of power, intersectionality and Brazilian popular music, as well as her own art practice. You can follow Emily on LinkedIn or Instagram @emily.yamamoto.music.art 7:45AM // Diletta Legowo, Creative Director of Nongkrong Festival, on the origins of this Indonesian-Australian arts and culture festival, how it celebrates the diversity of the Indonesian diaspora, the spotlight on Indonesian and Yolnu connections, and a sneak peak at this year's festival. Nongkrong Festival runs from 9 February to 23 February at various locations around Naarm/Melbourne. The inaugural festival last year had a focus on Indonesian culinary events and a day party, and this year the 2025 edition is "Roots and Routes". The festival includes a range of ticketed and free events, of which some are family friendly. You can find out more about the festival on Instagram @nongkrongfest or their website nongkrong.com.au. 8:00AM // Elyse Cunningham, Coordinator of the Better Buses Campaign, run by the Sustainable Cities collective at Friends of Earth, which has been advocating for a transformed bus network since 2021. Elyse reflects on Saturday's action in Werribee, the urgent need for bus reform in Melbourne's west, and the importance of the upcoming Werribee byelection. To learn more, head to https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/better_buses_campaign.  8:15AM // Events Songs:Hard 4 You - Chela Colonizer - Tanya Tagaq7000 - Emily YamamotoI Am The River, The River Is Me - Jen Cloher

“Your first year is not going to be perfect. You're not going to feel like you're having a lot of success a lot of the time because you're figuring out how to work within a school system, how to work with other teachers, with parents, with students that may not be too much younger than you if you start teaching high school. So you do your best, and you do a lot of reflection at the end of every day, at the end of every week, and you just prepare to wake up and then try something different.”Ross Cawthon is a graduate teaching assistant at Louisiana State University, where he is progressing towards a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with a minor emphasis in Music Education. He is the instructor of record for undergraduate choral conducting and a teaching assistant for the LSU A Cappella Choir and LSU Chamber Singers. Additionally, he is the Music Director at University Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge. Before coming to LSU, Ross was the Director of Choirs at DeLand High School in Deland, Florida, where he taught choir, piano, AP Music Theory and IB Music. The DeLand High Chorus has performed across the US, and was invited to sing at the Florida Music Educators Association conference in 2023.In addition to his choral interests, Ross has a passion for the poetry and music of J.R.R. Tolkien, barbecue, and exercising. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife Kristina, who is a singer and licensed speech-language pathologist.To get in touch with Ross, you can find him on Instagram (@rossisastore) or Facebook (@ross.cawthon.3).Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace HudsonBoomers, Bucks, and Bling PodcastUnlock the secrets to financial success with the Boomers, Bucks, and Bling...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

The Institute for Musical Arts Goshen, MA Ann Hackler (Executive Director) and June Millington (Artistic Director) have broken the sound barriers in Goshen, MA. Their love for each other and women in the music industry having a chance to be heard has been their drum beat since 1986 in California. Luckily, they got priced out of the market and came back to the 413 in 2001. On their property they teach young women how to play, record, sing, write, and ROCK. They are joined in the studio by Dana Warren, a 5X Camper, student, and 17-year-old and Penelope Black, a former camper, intern, student, and 19-year-old. Tune in to find out why you need to send your daughter to their summer camps, attend an upcoming concert in the red barn, listen to the jam-a-thon, and more. Go to www.ima.org to see for yourself. Thanks for listening.

The Institute for Musical Arts Goshen, MA Ann Hackler (Executive Director) and June Millington (Artistic Director) have broken the sound barriers in Goshen, MA. Their love for each other and women in the music industry having a chance to be heard has been their drum beat since 1986 in California. Luckily, they got priced out of the market and came back to the 413 in 2001. On their property they teach young women how to play, record, sing, write, and ROCK. They are joined in the studio by Dana Warren, a 5X Camper, student, and 17-year-old and Penelope Black, a former camper, intern, student, and 19-year-old. Tune in to find out why you need to send your daughter to their summer camps, attend an upcoming concert in the red barn, listen to the jam-a-thon, and more. Go to www.ima.org to see for yourself. Thanks for listening.

The Institute for Musical Arts Goshen, MA Ann Hackler (Executive Director) and June Millington (Artistic Director) have broken the sound barriers in Goshen, MA. Their love for each other and women in the music industry having a chance to be heard has been their drum beat since 1986 in California. Luckily, they got priced out of the market and came back to the 413 in 2001. On their property they teach young women how to play, record, sing, write, and ROCK. They are joined in the studio by Dana Warren, a 5X Camper, student, and 17-year-old and Penelope Black, a former camper, intern, student, and 19-year-old. Tune in to find out why you need to send your daughter to their summer camps, attend an upcoming concert in the red barn, listen to the jam-a-thon, and more. Go to www.ima.org to see for yourself. Thanks for listening.

The Institute for Musical Arts Goshen, MA Ann Hackler (Executive Director) and June Millington (Artistic Director) have broken the sound barriers in Goshen, MA. Their love for each other and women in the music industry having a chance to be heard has been their drum beat since 1986 in California. Luckily, they got priced out of the market and came back to the 413 in 2001. On their property they teach young women how to play, record, sing, write, and ROCK. They are joined in the studio by Dana Warren, a 5X Camper, student, and 17-year-old and Penelope Black, a former camper, intern, student, and 19-year-old. Tune in to find out why you need to send your daughter to their summer camps, attend an upcoming concert in the red barn, listen to the jam-a-thon, and more. Go to www.ima.org to see for yourself. Thanks for listening.

Sarah Weisbrod is a professional flutist, adjunct professor, educator, and creator of The Practice Code for Musicians, a transformative program that redefines how musicians approach practice. After near-career-ending complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis forced her to take a decade-long gap working as a software developer, she returned to music with an innovative perspective. Since earning her Doctor of Musical Arts, Sarah has been on a mission to help musicians practice effectively, overcome performance anxiety, and tell stories through sound. Her unique approach blends the logic of data analysis and mathematics with storytelling, artistry, and performance psychology, empowering musicians to unlock their full potential and perform with unshakeable confidence.   Listeners can visit this page to get on the waitlist for the spring 2025 Practice Code cohort and watch a free masterclass replay.   Find Sarah at her website, or on IG/FB @sarahweisbrodflute   Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical!  Theme music and audio editing by DreamVance. You can join my email list HERE, so you never miss an episode! I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams.  You can read more or hop onto a short discovery call from my website. I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there!    

Mateo Vintimilla is an Ecuadorian born Classical Guitarist who has performed in venues across the globe giving recitals in Dominican Republic, Iceland, United States, and Ecuador. A recipient of the Augustine Foundation Scholarship, he has collaborated with the Brooklyn Composers Society, premiering new music at Brooklyn College and commissioned and premiered works from several Ecuadorian composers. Mateo obtained his bachelor's degree in classical guitar performance at the Manhattan School of Music with the American virtuoso Mark Delpriora and his master's degree under the tutelage of the internationally acclaimed artist Dr. Andrew Zohn at the Schwob School of Music. As an educator Mateo has been a faculty member in The Brooklyn Center for Musical Arts, the New York City Guitar School, and non-profit organizations like Lead Guitar and Internal Creations, where he currently works as artistic director.

Most of us have experienced the gnawing doubt of our purpose. Few have leaned into that doubt and set out on a journey of exploration, knowing they are seafarers navigating the risks and opportunities of the voyage. This Great Conversation is with a woman who pursued formal education in business and economics at Harvard. It became her future core competency. She is now acknowledged as a thought leader in macroeconomic analysis and multi-asset capital allocation. But before that she said the great “Yes” to a passion centered in music earning her Doctorate in Musical Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as an Artist Diploma and a Master's degree in vocal performance. She has won honors and accolades from international competitions and been featured as a soloist at the Kennedy Center. Now Anna Rathbun, CFA, CAIA is the Chief Investment Officer of CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ), a leading professional services advisor to middle market businesses and organizations nationwide. Anna and I spend our time getting to the Yes of her journey which leads us to a discussion of the journey of the business owner. We agree it is a journey that transcends the P&L. It is a journey of the wants and needs of another through relationship and trust. (See the podcast “The Key Performance Indicator We Don't Measure…But Should”.) And trust, according to Anna, is fragile. It has a face, the other. It has a heart. And it has a mind. And this unique chemistry cannot be parsed or siloed. If we only focus on profit optimization, we will not build a sustainable and lasting relationship with our customers, suppliers, and employees. The bad news: we are in a time of shifting business models and shifting value systems for world markets. And that will impact the business owner here at home. The good news: if we harness what we know about ourselves and others, we can navigate these times to advantage both. Anna will be speaking on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at The Economic Update Breakfast at the Madison Centre Building Conference Center in Seattle, Washington. I will be there to meet her, physically, for the first time. Anna oversees a team conducting global economic research. She also produces the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index and the CBIZ Main Street Index, which are proprietary indices that keep a pulse on the small business employment conditions and other Main Street trends in the United States. Anna's opinions on global economic and market trends as well as monetary and fiscal policies are sought after by media outlets, and she is a regular guest contributor on Fox Business, CNN Money, Bloomberg, Reuters, Wall Street Journal and others. Anna is also an experienced professional in alternative investments, focusing on private equity, private credit and private real asset investing for institutional clients.  With a unique background that embraces both finance and the arts, Anna is dedicated to the issue of financial sustainability for organizations serving a mission. Enjoy this conversation with this master of the “Yes” in Life.

It Really Is Simple: A Holistic Approach To Self-Confidence: A Practical Guide A life-changing book about building yourself up from midlife crisis, elevating your self-worth, and achieving more than you ever imagined or dared dream of by mastering a simple yet meticulous prioritization process that you can apply to your health, career, finances, and relationships right away! An immigrant shares her success story and blueprint for defeating self-doubt, attaining optimal health, and building perpetual, scalable wealth, with an irrepressible belief that you can do it, too!Do you have a long history of low self-esteem and lack of confidence? Are you constantly struggling with fear of failure, fear of rejection, or fear of the unknown? No need to feel overwhelmed: starting from scratch is perfectly fine, as you will learn from this book, written by a successful late starter in life!

Join us in this enlightening episode as we dive into the creative mind of renowned conductor and composer Fouad Fakhouri of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra in Michigan and the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra in Texas. During our conversation we explore the fascinating similarities and contrasts between the worlds of visual arts and music and discover how the principles of art and design transcend these creative disciplines. Fouad Fakhouri was born in Lebanon and comes from four generations of musicians. His childhood in war-torn Lebanon played a significant role in shaping his musical compositions. The tumultuous civil war deeply influenced his artistic expression. At age seventeen, he traveled to the United States to begin his college studies at University of North Texas where he obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of North Texas, and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting, as well as a Master of Music in Composition/Theory from Pennsylvania State University. Currently the influence of living in New York City inspires Fouad. His work often reflects the city's traffic, chaos, and conflict, creating an expressively percussive quality to his music. On Friday evening, October 25 Fouad will be leading the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra in a program curated by him as the musical director and conductor of the symphony. The evening is titled Green vs. Blue: The Concert Tailgate Experience. Art Lewis, a local radio personality joins the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra to narrate Copland's Lincoln Portrait. The concert is comprised entirely of music from American composers and  featuring Rouse's Symphony No. 1. Valerie will be painting live alongside the orchestra for Michael Torke's pieces Green and Bright Blue Music, and there will be the Michigan Premiere of local pianist Catherine McMichael's Celestial Navigation. A ticketing link will be in the show notes of this episode.  Show Notes Fouad Fakhouri's Website Saginaw Bay Symphony Website Wichita Falls Symphony Website Tickets for October 25 Concert at Temple Theater "Green vs Blue" Seth Godin's The Practice: Shipping Creative Work Book Rick Rubin's The Creative Act Book

In this episode of the Self-employed Life, I had the great pleasure of speaking with the author of the collaborative book Embracing Ambition, Jenny Mitchell. We discussed things every person can learn from the stories of women CEOs on their way to leadership. Jenny explains topics such as the glass cliff and collaboration. Her experiences as a business woman gives her valuable insights into the world of business and enables her to give incredible advice to anyone who is entering, or has already entered, the business world.  Chavender's vision is to help more people do more good. Founder and president of Chavender, Jenny Mitchell (CFRE, DMA) is the author of the collaborative book Embracing Ambition which showcases 12 women CEOs on their journey to leadership. Jenny's podcast, Underdog Leadership helps women move from #2's to #1's in their life and work. Trained as a professional fundraiser, she is passionate about working with heart-centered leaders who are ready to change the world – one mission at a time.  Her company assists clients, across Canada and the U.S., with executive coaching, talent development at all levels of the organization, and facilitation and team building. Before completing her CFRE, Jenny trained as a classical musician and earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts. She brings her creative approach, her drive for excellence, and her passion for people to clients of all sizes. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com.  Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself. Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world. Guest Contact – Website - Chavender LinkedIn Contact Jeffrey – SelfEmployedNewsletter.com JeffreyShaw.com Books by Jeffrey Shaw Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share! Valuable Resources – The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out! Take The Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that's keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You'll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap. Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Having reviewed hundreds of websites, I can tell you 98% of websites are not. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. I'll email you a few suggestions to improve your brand message to attract more of your ideal customers. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO! Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.

Episode 111: Alexandra Dotcheva & Her Book, It Really Is Simple: A Holistic Approach to Self-Confidence -- A Practical Guide ABOUT ALEXANDRA Born into a musicians' family in Bulgaria, Alexandra came to the United States as a graduate student in 2000 and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from Louisiana State University in 2007. In 2008, prompted by the financial crisis, she decided to pursue a career in nursing and has been practicing as an RN since 2011, with a strong passion for educating patients on acquiring optimal health. Her experience includes ICU, orthopedic trauma, and home care. In 2014, she began her investing career with a focus on rental real estate and, later on, options trading. She is the owner of three real estate businesses and a holistic coaching business. Alexandra's passion for health, martial arts, fitness, and financial independence, as well as her experience with the challenges of cultural integration prompted her to write the book, It Really Is Simple: A Holistic Approach to Self- Confidence, in which she shares her path to success in an effort to motivate readers to embrace change and pursue their dreams, in spite of fear and insecurity. CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS "20 years of very poor self-confidence and self-esteem with never believing you would ever be able to accomplish even a fraction of what it is today." Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Whether talking about health, career, or finances, moving forward is all about mindset. Fixating on one area of focus as "the problem," when it's really something completely different. Doing the one major thing that seems impossible, and the possibilities it can open up going forward. "...be very careful who you listen to because the influences in your life, they're very well-intentioned, but oftentimes they're wrong." What Black Belt Mentality means. Awakening the child in yourself in order to succeed. What it means to face yourself. Writing in your authentic, true voice. Burning certain bridges in order to prosper. Accomplishing dreams by breaking them down into smaller goals. How fear and anxiety work for you as friends and allies. The MAIN QUESTION underlying my conversation with Alexandra is, Are you taking proactive steps to freedom by overcoming your insecurities and lack of confidence? FIND ALEXANDRA Website: https://www.holisticselfconfidence.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-dotcheva/ LinkedIn – Full Podcast Article: CHAPTERS 00:00 - The Book Leads Podcast - Alexandra Dotcheva 00:57 - Introduction & Bio 02:26 - Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work? 13:17 - How did your path into your career look like, and what did it look like up until now? 23:38 - Alexandra's journey in Martial Arts. 26:36 - Alexandra's journey into confidence. 28:48 - How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child? 36:17 - What does leadership mean to you? 38:14 - Can you introduce us to the book we're discussing? 47:19 - Can you provide a general overview of the book 51:41 - Alexandra on spirituality. 55:58 - What lessons have you taken away from the book? 58:26 - What's next for your writing? 01:09:02 - What book has inspired you? 01:11:28 - What are you up to these days? (A way for guests to share and market their projects and work.) This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations. Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes: Watch on YouTube Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts Listen on Apple Podcasts Read About The Book Leads – Blog Post For more great content, subscribe to my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!

The Nelson Centre of Musical Arts is holding their own Cat Video Festival as a fundraiser.

Plus, catching up with Rocky Mountain Rep's Michael Querio and our weekly Colorado Headliners   In this episode of the OnStage Colorado Podcast, hosts Alex Miller and Toni Tresca look back on the first six months of the year. We call out some of the best productions on stage in Colorado as picked by the OSC Review Crew. Later in the podcast, we review this week's Colorado Headliners – our Top 10 upcoming shows of note.   Also in this episode, an interview with Michael Querio, long-time artistic director at Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre in Grand Lake. This summer, RMRT is doing Kinky Boots, Come From Away, The Music Man and I Left My Heart.   Colorado Headliners this week:   1. Once Upon a Mattress at the Arts Hub Lafayette - through July 21 2. Grounded - BETC with Anne Penner - through July 21 at the Dairy 3. Chicago - Merely Players in Durango - through Aug. 3 4. Emperor of the Moon - ENT Center/Theatreworks through Aug. 4  5. Twelfth Night - Telluride town park stage through July 28 6. The Second City: Comedian Rhapsody (Tour) - Garner Galleria Theatre, Denver Center Performing Arts Complex, from July 17-August 11 7. Broadway Rave - the Fox Theatre in  Boulder on July 19 8. The Vagina Monologues - Theatre Company of Lafayette/Arapaho Center from July 19-July 28.  9. Colonizing America – An evening of standup with TJ. The Bug Theatre, Denver, on July 20 10.  Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words - July 21 at the Center for Musical Arts in Lafayette.   The best shows on stage in Colorado so far in 2024 (in alphabetical order)   237 Virginia Ave. – Local Theater Company Art - Aurora Fox Cheyanne - Control Group & Cipriano Ortega Clink Clink - 2 Cent Lion Cost of Living - Phamaly Theatre/Curious Crazy For You - Candlelight Emma – DCPA Theatre Company Impossible Things - Catamounts Jukebox for the Algonquin: Miners Alley Misery – Miners Alley Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Arvada Center Othello – ENT Center Othello 2024 – Firehouse Theater Proof - Springs Ensemble Theatre School of Rock - Veritas Productions at PACE Sweeney Todd - StageDoor The Bluebird - Theatre Artibus  The Glass Menagerie - Vintage Theatre The Lightning Thief - Aurora Fox Truth Be Told - Curious Theatre  Urinetown - Town Hall Arts Center What the Constitution Means to Me - BETC 

[00:00:00] Sergey Bogza: In Russia, before you went to first grade, it was the parent's responsibility, at least that's what my mom said, for her to teach us how to read and write and know multiplication tables up to 12. So, a first grader starting school knows how to read, write, and knows multiplication up to 12. And so, the entire summer preparing for school exams was my mom drilling me on how to write cursive, how to read, and drilling on multiplication tables. And then there was a time where you have to go and pass the exam and they identified your placement. And I remember it was a hundred percent or one mistake that I made and the sense of accomplishment. After four months of just mom working with you every day, just passing with flying colors. I remember that being such a validation of the efforts that you've put in. +++++++++++++ [00:02:51] Tommy Thomas: Our guest today is Sergey Bogza, Conductor and Music Director of the Panama City Symphony. When you talk with Sergey, the conversation could go a lot of ways. We could talk about how he excels as an endurance athlete, regularly competing in ultra marathons and long-distance bike rides. We could talk about his proficiency in the kitchen, as it relates to Slavic cuisine. Or we can talk about his two dogs, Sampson and Stella, and how they help him train for his endurance feats. We'll have to leave those topics for another day, because today I want to talk with him about his love for music and his journey from immigrating to the United States in 1995 to becoming the Conductor and Music Director of the Panama City Symphony. [00:03:40] Tommy Thomas: Welcome to Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership. [00:03:42] Sergey Bogza:: Thank you for having me. [00:03:45] Tommy Thomas:  One of the benefits that I've derived from being a Rotarian is the good speakers we have. And I remember you speaking to our club in Panama City, probably a year and a half or so ago back when we met at the Yacht Club. A lot of times my listeners want to know how I get these guests. And that's how I got Sergey.  Before we dig too much into your professional career I'd like to go back to your childhood. I know you're an immigrant. Can you tell us a little bit about that story? [00:04:14] Sergey Bogza: Sure. We moved to the United States in 1995. This was just a few years after the fall of the Soviet Union. My dad had a big family, and he wasn't sure of what the future might be, and he didn't see a lot of opportunities. Mid 90s in Russia was a tough time and when the borders opened and we had a chance to immigrate to the land of milk and honey and opportunity, even though we've never been, my dad took a risk and moved us to the United States. And it's one of the things that we're always grateful to him, to our mom for taking that chance and giving us the opportunity of making a life here in America. [00:05:04] Tommy Thomas: When I talk to someone who immigrated, I have a hard enough time with English as a native speaker.  Did you speak English fluently when you came? [00:05:13] Sergey Bogza: Oh, no. Zero. [00:05:16] Tommy Thomas:  What grade would you have been? Were you a bit in school by then or just starting? [00:05:21] Sergey Bogza: I was nine when I moved to the United States. And I was completing second grade in Russia. And when we immigrated to the United States, they ran all the tests. And zero English, but, geography, math, arithmetic. It was pretty advanced in the way I was doing it. So, they put me in fourth grade.  I was supposed to finish second grade in Russia. We moved to the United States and I ended up finishing fourth grade, so I got a clear leap. [00:05:55] Tommy Thomas:  What's your happiest memory of childhood? [00:06:01] Sergey Bogza: Happy childhood in Russia, let me think. [00:06:04] Tommy Thomas: Or you could do it post nine-year-old. [00:06:07] Sergey Bogza: I think probably two happiest memories that I can think of is in Russia, before you went to first grade, it was the parent's responsibility, at least that's what my mom said, for her to teach us how to read and write and know multiplication tables up to 12. So, a first grader starting school knows how to read, write, and knows multiplication up to 12. And so, the entire summer preparing for school exams was my mom drilling me on how to write cursive, how to read, and drilling on multiplication tables. And then there was a time where you had to go and pass the exam and they identified your placement. [00:07:01] Sergey Bogza: And I remember it was a hundred percent or one mistake that I made and the sense of accomplishment. After four months of just mom working with you every day, just getting passing with flying colors. I remember that being such a validation of the efforts that you've put in. And probably another memorable experience was that in Russia, I don't know why, but it was important that you learn and memorize poetry of great literary figures. And somehow there was always time we had to learn these long poems, memorize them, but in addition to that, when our parents had guests come over, we would be put on a chair and had to recite those poems from memory with intention and delivery. [00:07:59] Sergey Bogza: And there was one time I remember reciting a poem, I forget what it was, but I started it, and it made an impression, but as I kept going, I noticed people started losing interest, and I remember adjusting my delivery to, as a kid, this was happening on such a subconscious level, and having the audience turned around going from uninterested to, oh, he has something to say. I just remember that being a powerful experience as a child, how you deliver things, how you say things makes an impression. So yeah, it's stored somewhere way out there in the back of your brain. But those two things I remember vividly from my childhood, making kind of an obsession making an impression on me. ++++++++++++++ [00:08:49] Tommy Thomas: Now, was music a part of your upbringing in Russia, or did that happen once y'all got to the States? [00:08:56] Sergey Bogza: That happened when we got to the States, but when my parents got together with friends, the guitar and community singing was always part of it. It's almost like a Slavic culture that when people got together, the guitar or piano was present. People sang folk songs or religious songs, whatever it might be. So, music was always around, but it only started as a formal training once we got to the United States. [00:09:26] Tommy Thomas: Can you describe your high school experience in three words? [00:09:32] Sergey Bogza: High school experience in three words: musical, tedious and focused. Tommy Thomas: And was that because of the home emphasis or by that time, had you gotten into the classroom and that had become a part of your career path, so to speak? [00:09:53] Sergey Bogza: By the time I got to high school, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. So, I was in two different bands. I was also in singing and choir. So, it was a musical experience in high school, tedious, because I have to go to these classes that I had no interest in, but still get good grades. So, I can get a scholarship and focus is the word I use because I knew what I wanted to do in high school, or I wanted to know what I was going to do with my life post high school. So, it was a matter of just, I need to finish these four years, I need to graduate, and I need to stay focused, get good grades, and get my musical training, continue with my piano lessons, sing in choirs, and play trumpet in a band. But at the same time, I had to go to these classes that I just had little interest in. So that monotony and tedious was, it's the reason I use that word to describe the high school experience. [00:10:55] Tommy Thomas: What is something that people are always surprised to find out about you? [00:11:04] Sergey Bogza: There are things besides music that I love and enjoy. [00:11:09] Tommy Thomas: Thus, our segue from our intro and I wish we had time to get into some of that, but we'll hold back a little bit. Obviously, you got comfortable in your leadership skin early in life. I liked that story about telling the poem. I think that even in elementary school it said something about your stage presence and how you were comfortable in that format. Successful people are always asked what makes you so successful. I like to frame the question this way. What's a factor that's helped you succeed that most people on the outside wouldn't realize or recognize? [00:11:49] Sergey Bogza: Wow. That's a great question. And the world of art is a unique world. And sometimes when people look at artists or musicians, they usually catch them when they're doing their art on stage. They catch them when they're doing the 2%, the final product, the performance, when there's this flair, flow, artistry, dashing gestures. And things are just happening. You're in a state of ecstasy. When people see musicians, they catch them at that moment. But what people don't often see is the 98%. The sort of the monotonous work, the planning, the staging, the details. And if I were just to answer that question as to what people don't realize, or what makes it successful is the attention to detail that makes those 2 percent feel like magic. [00:13:01] Sergey Bogza: That's the tricky part of being an artist. What you showcase to people and what you share with people is just a fraction of all the work, the monotony, the tedious, the details, the reworking things, the 50 different drafts that you come up with that nobody will ever see. And all of that is at the service of making that 1%, the 2 percent of the time that you share with the audience to feel like magic, freedom, exploration of the divine, to make your art have a feeling of divineness to it. That's the tricky part. That's what I think most people don't realize. And people will always say obviously that is talent. That's a born talent that you were given by God. And no way. If you knew what this so-called talent has gone through, you would call it maybe craftsmanship, you would call it just stubbornness. There's so many other words to call what people describe as talent, but that's what I would say is the, in other words, you have a view of the forest. [00:14:25] Sergey Bogza: But you know the little details and you don't get the little details yet. Forest, but you have us, but you also know the details that contribute to the feeling of the forest and that I'm probably not summarizing this very well, but that's the general feel of the process there. [00:14:44] Tommy Thomas: I guess you would say that some people come to you in the orchestra or the symphony with more talent than others. I realize it's a high bar to get there in the beginning. In the NBA, even the substitutes are pretty good. Yeah, I'm trying to get my head around the natural talent or the person that just seems to have been born with it. And you say most of it is hard work. [00:15:12] Sergey Bogza Natural. Yeah, natural talent is not enough. It is not enough. And what often happens when people just ride on natural talent eventually comes to an end. There is a cap to natural talent, regardless of how talented one is, difficult times will come. And in the world of art, you are working with masterworks masterpieces. Works of Mozart's of this world. These were geniuses that have given us. [00:15:46] Sergey Bogza: And when you work with that type of level of artistry, no natural talent will suffice. Yes, it's great when you have that natural intuition for certain elements, but the building of the technique, the building of the process, putting concerts together, finding a way to communicate your art to the general audience, to the general public. That is work, and that is craftsmanship. Probably one of my favorite quotes of Johann Sebastian Bach, a man with a talent and a genius, but he described himself as a craftsman, someone who has learned the art of crafting counterpoint of writing 30 minutes of music a week to present at the church services where he worked. So, a combination of talent and craftsmanship is what makes one successful. +++++++++++++++ [00:16:53] Tommy Thomas: Aside from your mom, have you had mentors in your life? [00:16:58] Sergey Bogza: I don't have that one mentor that stayed in my life throughout many years. My life mentors came and went depending on the season of my career or of my musical training or my musical evolution. So, I've had mentors that came for a period, and they guided me through that process. Then there was another stage that came where somebody else would come up. Mentors would emerge from time to guide me in whatever stage of a musical development I was in. [00:17:33] Tommy Thomas: Now did they see you and come along besides you, or did you recognize that you probably needed some tutelage in that area? [00:17:44] Sergey Bogza: They emerged. There's that quote that says, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. And so, for me, it was that a new phase of my career had entered and somehow God sent a mentor to appear, whether it was by way of a friendship or a meeting. I've always been blessed with people coming into my life at the right moment. And I don't know why it's happening like this or why it has happened or turned out that way. But I'm forever grateful for the variety of mentors that have been present in my life. [00:18:27] Tommy Thomas: So, I'm going to maybe use the metaphor that an orchestra or symphony is a team at some level. I'd like to go into an ambitious project. What's the most ambitious thing you and your symphony or orchestra have ever undertaken? And how did you get the team to come around you? [00:18:49] Sergey Bogza: I think probably the most ambitious project that I've ever done was my doctoral dissertation at the University of Minnesota. I don't know of anyone who's ever done a project like this. The majority of times when you're getting your Doctor of Musical Arts, you'll write a paper and then you would conduct a concert, a shorter concert. What I've decided to do is to do a transcription of Richard Strauss tone poem, Don Quixote, which was originally written for about a hundred musicians. And I wanted to distill it to about 16 to 17 musicians. So rewrite the entire piece that was written for a large orchestra, one of the great tone poems, distill it for 17 musicians, perform it in three different venues so I can get the acoustics feel for three different performances work with 17 talented musicians, hire a videographer, hire a photographer to capture this, and then based on all of that, rewrite the piece one more time. [00:20:00] Sergey Bogza: So that way I would have something that I could sell, present, or rent for other orchestras to use. So that way other organizations that don't have a hundred-piece orchestra could use a chamber version of it. And so, when you're young and you've never done anything like this before, it can be really tricky and it was a difficult project and maybe to answer the question of how did we get the orchestra or in this case, chamber orchestra to pull this project off. And the answer to that is, in this case, the leader, me, in this case, had to be 100 percent sold on the project and to provide leadership in all the areas of that project, whether it was musical, logistical, advertising leadership, novelty leadership. This was a novel project that we've done and probably in a span of three months of putting it all together. [00:21:14] Sergey Bogza: The amount of life lessons I've learned on how to be a leader in difficult situations. There were times where I wanted to call the university and say, I'm done with this project. I don't want to do this anymore. This is too difficult. But we followed through. We did the difficult stuff. There were opportunities to give up at every corner. But when it was all said and done, and then the dust settled, I really felt like I had a kind of a breaking moment, like I've entered a new level in my leadership skills and I was able to see, as I've described earlier, having a big picture. [00:22:06] Sergey Bogza: But then also knowing all the small nuances and details and how they play into the big picture presentation and that ability going between big picture, small details, big picture, small details, and having that fluidity. And never losing the big picture for whatever little, small problems that come across was what made that project so successful, not only to that, but then to also commit clear communication to everyone involved of how those details are contributing to our eventual success in this project. [00:22:49] Tommy Thomas: So, when you recruited your chamber members, were you recruiting peers in your mind? Were you recruiting maestros who might've been beyond you perhaps in their level? [00:23:03] Sergey Bogza: No, I was recruiting peers. It was a peer orchestra. I was working with people who are my age. Students at the University of Minnesota. So, this was working with the professional musicians who just had years and years of experience. We were all doing it for the first time. Like we were developing a prototype, so to speak, a company prototype. And so, we were all new to this. And even though we were all new, I was the leader. I have to guide people who are new to this. But also, I was new to this. So, it's okay, how do you navigate this? How do you keep the band together, so to speak, and not lose anyone, even though you are walking with a group in uncharted territory? How do you find a way to inspire them and to not lose focus to the very end of the finish line? [00:24:08] Tommy Thomas: But go to your having done this in a much different way, but having put together a doctoral dissertation and having to sell it to the committee. Did you have to sell this to the committee as something new or were they excited that you were going to break some new ground? [00:24:26] Sergey Bogza: Oh yeah, there was, I knew that this was something different. I did have to convince a lot of people of the validity or why this project is important. Because frankly what I didn't want to do as a musician or as a conductor is to spend hundreds and hundreds of hours in front of a computer screen typing up a dissertation or doing a research project. I wanted it to be a hands-on experience of working with musicians, writing this new arrangement, reserving a variety of venues, and advertising to get the public to come to these performances. It was a new project. And thankfully when it was all said and done, I had a product, I had a musical project that I was able to advertise and give it to other people. And a variety of orchestras have hired that arrangement. And so, I just feel so thankful for having gone through that because whereas had I gone the traditional route, my dissertation would be collecting dust at some libraries, bookshelves, forever forgotten, but I have a project, a dissertation that is in circulation that are people finding useful, that there's a market for it. [00:25:46] Sergey Bogza: And obviously it has worked out now. I didn't know it was going to work out. I thought it might be successful. It might completely fall through. And the committee would come back and say, redo the whole thing. We want to see a 30-page paper, but now to be a success. And it was a gamble. It was a risk-taking adventure and I'm glad it all worked out. +++++++++++++++++++ [00:26:08] Tommy Thomas: Next week, we continue the conversation with Sergey Bogza, where Sergey delves into the intricacies of assembling and leading an orchestra. He also shares his approach to understanding each member's skill set, making strategic decisions, and balancing the structured rigor of rehearsals with the freedom of a live performance. Anyone who might've thought, what can we learn about nonprofit leadership from a symphony director will not want to miss this episode. Links and Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas The Perfect Search – What every board needs to know about hiring their next CEO Panama City Symphony Website Sergey Bogza's Personal Website   Connect tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Follow Tommy on LinkedIn   Listen to Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify   

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Kyle Prescott, a Professor of Music and a Conductor at Florida Atlantic University.   In this upcoming episode, Dr. Prescott talks about his recent experience conducting the iconic Rhapsody in Blue, a 100-Year Tribute to Gershwin's American classic at the Festival of Arts Boca.Dr. Kyle Prescott  holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.  He's presented his research internationally at peer-reviewed conferences, including once for the National Security Agency, regarding research into US Navy Band Musicians in the world of cryptology in the mid- 20th Century.In demand as a teacher of conducting, Dr Prescott has worked with over 450 professional conductors in the refinement of their craft. He is President-elect of the Florida Collegiate Music Education Association, a past Florida Chair of the College Band Directors National Association, Past President of The Symphonia Orchestra, is Conductor and Music Director of the professional Florida Wind Symphony and FWS Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Boca Festival of the Arts Jazz Orchestra, whose inaugural performance included the original 1924 version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue discussed in this ‘In Conversation' podcast with Dean Horswell.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Kyle Prescott, a Professor of Music and a Conductor at Florida Atlantic University.   In this upcoming episode, Dr. Prescott talks about his recent experience conducting the iconic Rhapsody in Blue, a 100-Year Tribute to Gershwin's American classic at the Festival of Arts Boca.Dr. Kyle Prescott  holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.  He's presented his research internationally at peer-reviewed conferences, including once for the National Security Agency, regarding research into US Navy Band Musicians in the world of cryptology in the mid- 20th Century.In demand as a teacher of conducting, Dr Prescott has worked with over 450 professional conductors in the refinement of their craft. He is President-elect of the Florida Collegiate Music Education Association, a past Florida Chair of the College Band Directors National Association, Past President of The Symphonia Orchestra, is Conductor and Music Director of the professional Florida Wind Symphony and FWS Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Boca Festival of the Arts Jazz Orchestra, whose inaugural performance included the original 1924 version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue discussed in this ‘In Conversation' podcast with Dean Horswell.

“From my first ACDA in 1991 to ACDA now: complete reversal. People are not afraid to perform something that moves the soul, and in 1991 nobody did it. Now people are digging in and not being afraid. I applaud all of my fellow choral conductors for being fearless and not being afraid to tell the stories that mean something.”Tim Seelig is a conductor, singer, speaker and educator. He continues a busy schedule of appearances across the U.S. He conducted LGBTQ+ choruses for 35 years and is Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale.Dr. Seelig holds four degrees, including the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas and the Diploma from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has written 6 books on choral technique, several of which are best-sellers, and his memoir, Tale of Two Tims: Big Ol' Baptist, Big Ol' Gay.Dr. Seelig has conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for 25 years. He conducted the Guinness Book Of World Record's Longest Choral Concert and carried the Olympic torch in 1996 as a community Hero.  He has conducted over 50 recordings which have been on Billboard Top Ten and iTunes Top Ten classical charts. His choruses have been the topic of three documentaries. The PBS documentary, After Goodbye: An AIDS Story was awarded the national Emmy for best documentary.He is the proud grandfather of the amazing Clara Skye, Eden Mae, Cora Rose, Ivy Hope.To get in touch with Tim, you can find him on Facebook (@tim.seelig) or email him at tgseelig@gmail.com.Choir Fam wants to hear from you! Check out the Minisode Intro Part 3 episode from February 16, 2024, to hear how to share your story with us.Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

In celebration of African American Music Appreciation Month and Juneteenth, we get previews of two events that highlight the work from some of the musicians, singers and composers who have made an enormous impact on the nation's arts and culture.  Soprano Alexandria Crichlow and Samuel Springer, Doctor of Musical Arts at Morgan State University give us a preview of ‘Moving Forward And Beyond: A Juneteenth Celebration' happening at the Walters Art Museum June 15. Then Lea Gilmore, Minister for Racial Justice & Multicultural Engagement and the Music Director at Govans Presbyterian Church along with BSO bassist Jonathan Jensen talk about their collaboration, Juneteenth Jubilee at Govans Church June 10.Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers mharvie@wypr.org 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers mgerr@wypr.org 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472

When you find yourself hitting the wall of EXHAUSTION, you could be experiencing burnout. What most people don't know is that our biological stress cycle is not equipped to deal with our modern-day demands. Luckily, there is a cure for burnout and Amelia Nagoski is here to share it with us. You will learn... what causes burnout (and the only CURE for it) how to actually “listen to your body” how the stress cycle works the difference between burnout, depression, and self-sabotage Remember: When you think you need more grit, what you actually need is help. Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A. (it stands for Doctorate of Musical Arts) is the co-author, with her sister Emily, of the New York Times bestselling Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle and the Burnout workbook. Her job is to run around waving her arms and making funny noises and generally doing whatever it takes to help singers get in touch with their internal experience. Get Amelia and Emily Nagoski's book, Burnout: https://amzn.to/449tPUC And the Burnout Workbook Audiobook with original songs by Amelia: https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Workbook-Advice-Exercises-Unlock/dp/B0CD2S9CBF And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast Mentioned In This Episode... 5-part series on how to listen to your body: https://www.feministsurvivalproject.com/episodes/episode-58-how-to-listen-to-your-body

In this episode of One Symphony, conductor Devin Patrick Hughes interviews internationally renowned pianist Quynh Nguyen (pronounced Quin Nwen), exploring her remarkable journey in music. Born in post-war Vietnam, Nguyen's path has been shaped by her family legacy, global influences, and dedication to her craft. From her early beginnings at the Hanoi Conservatory to her studies in Moscow, Paris, and the United States, Nguyen's story exemplifies perseverance and the power of music to transcend boundaries. The interview examines Nguyen's direct connections with French composer Olivier Messiaen and studying with his wife Yvonne Loriod, her respect for Germaine Tailleferre's resilience, and her collaboration with Paul Chihara on his Concerto Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra. Nguyen also explores music's capability to promote peace between nations in her touching final remarks.   Quynh Nguyen has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Vietnam, in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Smithsonian's Freer Gallery, Berlin Konzerthause, and the Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam. Broadcast appearances include Voice of America, WQXR, WGBH, NHK Television in Japan, Vietnamese national television, and “Grand Piano,” on cable TV channels across the United States. Her discography includes recordings on Arabesque, Naxos's American Classics Series, and Music and Arts labels.   Dr. Nguyen is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music and received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Graduate Center of City University of New York. She is the recipient of several highly prestigious scholarships and awards, including the United States Presidential Academic Fitness Award, the American Prize, and the Fulbright Fellowship to France.   Thank you for joining us on One Symphony. Thanks to Quynh Nguyen for sharing her music and spirit. You can find more info at https://www.quynhpiano.com   All music selections feature Quynh Nguyen on Piano. The following albums were featured on One Symphony today: “Fleurs de France: No. 2, Coquelicot de Guyenne” and “Berceuse” composed by Germaine Tailleferre from the album The Flower of France available from Naxos.  From Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus I. No. 15. Le baiser de l'enfant-Jesus ("The kiss of the infant Jesus") composed by Olivier Messiaen from the album Quynh Nguyen: Live in Concert - New York available from Arabesque Records. Concerto Fantasy, composed by Paul Chihara and featuring Nguyen with the London Symphony Orchestra “Drinking Songs for Kittens,” “Like Rising Must,”  and “Kleine Toccata…” from the Twice Seven Haiku.  4 Reveries on Beethoven (2021 Version): No. 2, Pastorale.  All these selections are available on the album Chihara: Concerto-Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, Bagetelles, Reveries & Ami on the Naxos label.   You can always find more info at OneSymphony.org including a virtual tip jar if you'd like to support the show. Please feel free to rate, review, or share the show! Until next time, thank you for being part of the music!   https://www.quynhpiano.com https://www.priceattractions.com/devin-patrick-hughes-conductor  

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK SWEET INDULGENCE!!! To get a copy SIGNED by me: https://www.aseatatthetablebooks.org/item/ZoZQdz5_9KnlUqAhQqoR3A You can also get your copies here but I won't be able to sign them: https://www.amazon.com/Chef-AJs-Sweet-Indulgence-Guilt-Free/dp/1570674248 or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144514092?ean=9781570674242 Save Your Receipt! We will be offering bonuses for pre-orders ASAP. GET MY FREE INSTANT POT COOKBOOK: https://www.chefaj.com/instant-pot-download MY LATEST BESTSELLING BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570674086?tag=onamzchefajsh-20&linkCode=ssc&creativeASIN=1570674086&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice. The content of this podcast is provided for informational or educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health issue without consulting your doctor. Always seek medical advice before making any lifestyle changes.J Join Gustavo, "The Plant-Powered Pianist", to go back to basics and make 3 simple but delicious meals with only 3 ingredients. One of the recipes comes from Gustavo's and Shayda' book "Live Your Healthiest Life!". Get your copy of the book at https://a.co/d/2mCZ4aI and get your Bonus PDF with "Shayda's & Gustavo's Secret Persian and Arnetine Recipes". Email your proof of purchase by July 1st, 2024 to LYHLbonus@yahoo.com. Show Notes Gustavo Tolosa, DMA, is a music professor and an international concert pianist, having performed all over the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. His Doctorate of Musical Arts is from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, New York. Besides music, Dr. Tolosa's passion is to teach the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet, SOS-free (salt, oil, sugar free). He is certified in The Starch Solution by the McDougall Health & Medical Center. He has had the pleasure of working with and interviewing most plant-based doctors and chefs in the last 10 years. He is a regular guest on Chef AJ's YouTube channel show and has created his own "7-Day Detox & ReSET Program" which is an online program that meets live 3 times per day for a whole week. Dr. Tolosa's website: https://plantemus.com/en/webinars/live-workshops/ Dr. Tolosa's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrGustavoTolosa Dr. Tolosa's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/doctorstarch Instagram under "Plantemus" Music website: https://gustavotolosa.com/en/home/

Today on the podcast we have Joanne Kong and Chirstoph Wagner, and they are the Vegan Virtuosiz. Joanne and Christoph weave together live music, reflections, and the arts in inspiring events that illuminate how embracing the connections we have to the natural world and all beings can bring about transformative spiritual growth, positive change, and planetary healing. They will be featured in the upcoming documentary, Taking Note, about vegan musicians and the history of animal rights as seen through music. Pianist Joanne Kong's performances have been praised for “great finesse and flexibility” (The Washington Post), and “superb artistry” (San Antonio Express-News) in works “sensitively played” (New York Times).  She is currently director of chamber music ensembles at the University of Richmond. Dr. Kong speaks around the world as an animal, environmental and vegan advocate. Her TEDx talk, The Power of Plant-Based Eating,has over 1 million views, she is editor of Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, and appears in the major documentary, Eating Our Way to Extinction. Christoph Wagner, a native of Germany, is a sought-after cellist who has played on four continents. Mr. Wagner holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rice University, and his current research focuses on the role of nutrition in musical peak performance. He is a Certified Nutrition Coach and Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and holds a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Currently Dr. Wagner is Assistant Professor of Cello at the University of New Mexico.Resources:Joanne Kong: www.JoanneKongMusic.comVegan Virtuosiz Tour Information:Vancouver, Washington, May 17, 2024Salem, Oregon, May 19, 2024(Book) Vegan Voices: Essays By Inspiring Changemakers by Joanne Kong, PhDPlease support this podcast:Compassionate LivingHope for the Animals Podcast

In today's episode, we talk with Erik Rohde about conducting and education!   Erik Rohde maintains a diverse career as a conductor, violinist, and educator, and has performed in recitals and festivals across the United States and in Europe and Asia.  He is the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Northern Iowa and the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Winona Symphony Orchestra (MN). Prior to his appointment at the University of Northern Iowa, Rohde served as the Director of String Activities and Orchestra at Indiana State University where he conducted the Indiana State University Symphony Orchestra and taught violin, chamber music, and Suzuki pedagogy. In Indiana, he also founded the Salomon Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra dedicated to promoting the works of living composers and of Haydn and his contemporaries. Having grown up in Rochester, Rohde is particularly excited to return to his hometown to conduct the orchestra that includes former teachers, classmates, and colleagues. He began his musical studies with Linda Thompson on the violin at the age of 4 and first heard the Rochester Symphony at one of their annual educational concerts a few years later. Having begun his musical journey in Rochester, this is an exciting chance to return and make music in a new way in a community that he loves and one that helped shape the early part of his musical journey. A committed advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered and commissioned many new works by both established and young composers, and is constantly seeking to discover new compositional voices. In addition to regularly bringing new orchestral works to programs each season, he is the violinist of the new music duo sonic apricity, which is dedicated to uncovering and commissioning new works by living composers for violin and viola. The duo released their first recording on the Navona label in December of 2022. At Indiana State University, he helped to host the annual Contemporary Music Festival – now running for over 50 years. He has worked with Joan Tower, Augusta Read Thomas, Libby Larsen, Chen Yi, Meira Warshauer, Elliott Miles McKinley, Christopher Walczak, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Pierre Jalbert, James Dillon, David Dzubay, Marc Mellits, Carter Pann, Narong Prangcharoen and countless others. In 2019, he released two recordings with composer Elliott Miles McKinley, conducting his percussion concerto Four Grooves and performing on his eighth string quartet. In his native Minnesota, Rohde has served as the Music Director of the Buffalo Community Orchestra, conductor and violinist for the Contemporary Music Workshop, Camarata Suzuki orchestra conductor for the MacPhail Center for Music, String Ensemble conductor at the Trinity School, and first violinist of the Cantiamo and Enkidu String Quartets.  Rohde holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where he studied with conductors Mark Russell Smith, Kathy Saltzman Romey, and Craig Kirchhoff and violin pedagogue Mark Bjork. He also holds degrees in Violin Performance and Biomedical Engineering. Rohde lives in Cedar Falls, IA with his wife Erin and their children.   Betwixt Bach: Suite for Solo Violin (2021) Performed by Erik Rohde

In today's episode, we talk with Erik Rohde about conducting and education!   Erik Rohde maintains a diverse career as a conductor, violinist, and educator, and has performed in recitals and festivals across the United States and in Europe and Asia.  He is the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Northern Iowa and the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Winona Symphony Orchestra (MN). Prior to his appointment at the University of Northern Iowa, Rohde served as the Director of String Activities and Orchestra at Indiana State University where he conducted the Indiana State University Symphony Orchestra and taught violin, chamber music, and Suzuki pedagogy. In Indiana, he also founded the Salomon Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra dedicated to promoting the works of living composers and of Haydn and his contemporaries. Having grown up in Rochester, Rohde is particularly excited to return to his hometown to conduct the orchestra that includes former teachers, classmates, and colleagues. He began his musical studies with Linda Thompson on the violin at the age of 4 and first heard the Rochester Symphony at one of their annual educational concerts a few years later. Having begun his musical journey in Rochester, this is an exciting chance to return and make music in a new way in a community that he loves and one that helped shape the early part of his musical journey. A committed advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered and commissioned many new works by both established and young composers, and is constantly seeking to discover new compositional voices. In addition to regularly bringing new orchestral works to programs each season, he is the violinist of the new music duo sonic apricity, which is dedicated to uncovering and commissioning new works by living composers for violin and viola. The duo released their first recording on the Navona label in December of 2022. At Indiana State University, he helped to host the annual Contemporary Music Festival – now running for over 50 years. He has worked with Joan Tower, Augusta Read Thomas, Libby Larsen, Chen Yi, Meira Warshauer, Elliott Miles McKinley, Christopher Walczak, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Pierre Jalbert, James Dillon, David Dzubay, Marc Mellits, Carter Pann, Narong Prangcharoen and countless others. In 2019, he released two recordings with composer Elliott Miles McKinley, conducting his percussion concerto Four Grooves and performing on his eighth string quartet. In his native Minnesota, Rohde has served as the Music Director of the Buffalo Community Orchestra, conductor and violinist for the Contemporary Music Workshop, Camarata Suzuki orchestra conductor for the MacPhail Center for Music, String Ensemble conductor at the Trinity School, and first violinist of the Cantiamo and Enkidu String Quartets.  Rohde holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where he studied with conductors Mark Russell Smith, Kathy Saltzman Romey, and Craig Kirchhoff and violin pedagogue Mark Bjork. He also holds degrees in Violin Performance and Biomedical Engineering. Rohde lives in Cedar Falls, IA with his wife Erin and their children.   Betwixt Bach: Suite for Solo Violin (2021) Performed by Erik Rohde

Dennis DeSantis is the Head of Music Learning at Ableton in addition to being a composer, percussionist, author, educator, and former sound designer at Native Instruments. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. His electronic music appears on labels such as Ghostly, Global Underground, Cocoon and Kanzleramt, and he has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. Follow Dennis Below:  https://www.dennisdesantis.com https://www.youtube.com/@dennisdesantis https://www.instagram.com/dennisdesantis https://twitter.com/dennisdesantis https://linktr.ee/dennisdesantis SPONSORED BY BABY AUDIO Baby Audio creates incredible instruments and effects plugins. They released a big update to the cult classic BA-1 synth that includes an all-new, separate effects strip plugin based on its 80s-inspired effects section. Current owners get a free upgrade, or grab a limited-time 51% off their website right now. Go to:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.babyaud.io/AMP⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get an additional 15% off with code: AMP15 Join the newsletter to get free Ableton content + early episode access: https://www.liveproducersonline.com/newsletter⁠⁠ Episode music: Coconut Crab by 7apes

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK SWEET INDULGENCE!!! To get a copy SIGNED by me: https://www.aseatatthetablebooks.org/item/ZoZQdz5_9KnlUqAhQqoR3A You can also get your copies here but I won't be able to sign them: https://www.amazon.com/Chef-AJs-Sweet-Indulgence-Guilt-Free/dp/1570674248 or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144514092?ean=9781570674242 Save Your Receipt! We will be offering bonuses for pre-orders ASAP. GET MY FREE INSTANT POT COOKBOOK: https://www.chefaj.com/instant-pot-download MY LATEST BESTSELLING BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570674086?tag=onamzchefajsh-20&linkCode=ssc&creativeASIN=1570674086&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice. The content of this podcast is provided for informational or educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health issue without consulting your doctor. Always seek medical advice before making any lifestyle changes. "Party, Party Party, Our New Book Is Out!" Get the new book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZW2RZTF?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzchefajsh-20&creativeASIN=B0CZW2RZTF&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d_asin For the Ten Top Secret Bonus Recipes, email your receipt after purchase to: LYHLBonus@yahoo.,com Join Gustavo and his mother Raquel live, to see them make two recipes from the book "Live Your Healthiest Life!" that Shayda Soleymani and Gustavo Tolosa wrote and it is already out on Amazon. Get your copy of the book at https://a.co/d/2mCZ4aI and get your Bonus PDF with "Shayda's & Gustavo's Secret Persian and Arnetine Recipes". Email your proof of purchase by July 1st, 2024 to LYHLbonus@yahoo.com. Gustavo Tolosa, DMA, is a music professor and an international concert pianist, having performed all over the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. His Doctorate of Musical Arts is from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, New York. Besides music, Dr. Tolosa's passion is to teach the health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet, SOS-free (salt, oil, sugar free). He is certified in The Starch Solution by the McDougall Health & Medical Center. He has had the pleasure of working with and interviewing most plant-based doctors and chefs in the last 10 years. He is a regular guest on Chef AJ's YouTube channel show and has created his own "7-Day Detox & ReSET Program" which is an online program that meets live 3 times per day for a whole week. Dr. Tolosa's website: https://plantemus.com/en/webinars/live-workshops/ Dr. Tolosa's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrGustavoTolosa Dr. Tolosa's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/doctorstarch Instagram under "Plantemus" Music website: https://gustavotolosa.com/en/home/

Ronald A. Matthews joined Eastern University in 1992 and was appointed the 10th President of Eastern University effective March 1, 2018. Prior to this call, Dr. Matthews served as Professor of Music, Chair of the Music Department, and since 2010, Executive Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Division. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dr. Matthews graduated from Central High School. Having received a Philadelphia Board of Education music scholarship, he did his undergraduate work in Church Music and Organ at Westminster Choir College where he graduated magna cum laude and received both the Senior Class Conducting Award and the Christian Leadership Award. Dr. Matthews received the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Temple University, during which time he was invited to conduct the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra for a recording project in Tel Aviv. At the age of 23, Dr. Matthews was invited to join the faculty of Nyack College as the Director of Choral Activities. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Combs College of Music in Composition with an emphasis in Orchestral Conducting. From 1982-1992, Dr. Matthews was the Chair of the Department of Music at what is now Cairn University. For several years, he was a Thomas F. Staley Foundation lecturer/artist and served on professional and denominational boards and task forces. From 2005 until 2018, he was the Pastor of Worship Arts at Church of the Saviour in Wayne, PA. Dr. Matthews has conducted, recorded, and performed in France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the Vatican. He is a commissioned and published composer. He has performed and recorded regularly with his younger brother, Rev. Dr. Gary Matthews, in concerts and workshops throughout the United States and internationally. His older brother, Dr. John T. Matthews, is Professor of English at Boston University. Dr. Matthews' most recent release is a jazz piano Christmas recording, Holly and Ivory. Dr. Matthews is married to Pamela R. Matthews, who was raised in Oreland, PA and graduated from Springfield High School. She graduated from Chestnut Hill Hospital's School of Radiologic Technology. Mrs. Matthews is a registered Ultrasonographer and received her training in Ultrasonography from Jefferson University and Chestnut Hill Hospital. For over thirty years she worked in Obstetrics and Gynecology with Abington Hospital - Jefferson Health until 2017. She served as the President of the Home and School Association for the Upper Moreland Round Meadow Elementary School during which she raised funds for new playground equipment. For the Middle School, she organized a campaign resulting in the purchase of a new grand piano for the music program. Mrs. Matthews is an avid tennis player and is also interested in charitable and mission work. She has organized fundraising projects for Haiti and the Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, NC, and she has traveled to Cartagena, Colombia on a sports mission trip. Dr. and Mrs. Matthews have two adult sons.  

Classical music is pervasive and ubiquitous and yet for many people, it is difficult to connect with. We met one classical pianist who makes it her mission to connect with audiences and bring her joy of classical music to the masses. She is the extraordinary Jeeyoon Kim. a multi-hyphenate musician-author-blogger-podcaster-educator-and-performer. Our Athletes and the Arts founder Randy Dick caught up with Jeeyoon recently and he's here with her on our show today.For more on Jeeyoon, go to https://www.jeeyoonkim.comInstagram @jeeyoonkimpianistX: @jeeyoon_pianistFor Athletes and the Arts, go to www.athletesandthearts.comBio: Award-winning classical pianist Jeeyoon Kim has delighted audiences across the United States and the world with her combination of sensitive artistry, ‘consummate musicianship, impeccable technique, and engaging and innovative concert experiences.' (New York Classical Review)​From the start of her career, beginning with her celebrated 2016 debut album, 10 More Minutes, Jeeyoon has thrilled classical music fans with her artful performances. Through her unique performance presentations, Jeeyoon has connected with concert attendees decidedly younger than the average by engaging in musical conversations from the stage. Her second album and concert project, Over. Above. Beyond., further stretched the mold for classical piano performances by collaborating with New York-based artist Moonsub Shin. Jeeyoon's collaboration with the artist delivered a multimedia experience that was also captured in an award-winning music video. Kim's following project titled, 시음/si-úm/, began during her 2020 residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for their 'Concert in the 21st Century' program. This concert project incorporates poetry and black and white photography. Jeeyoon's dedication to pushing the boundaries of traditional classical music to connect with a new audience has inspired a dedicated and passionate fanbase that defies conventional wisdom.Jeeyoon began studying the piano when she was just four years old, and her love of music propelled her through her undergraduate studies in piano performance in her native Korea. After moving to the United States, she received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance with Distinction from Indiana University's renowned Jacobs School of Music.In pursuit of a deeper understanding of music education, she earned a second master's degree in piano pedagogy from Butler University, where she concurrently served as a faculty member. As a testament to Jeeyoon's abilities as an educator, she was recognized with the 'Top Music Teacher Award' from Steinway & Sons for three consecutive years, from 2016 to 2018.Jeeyoon is an author, educator, public speaker, podcaster, and award-winning performer. In 2021, she published her first book, Whenever You're Ready, offering readers a personal glimpse into her life. This self-help book in a concert-style structure shares wisdom and insights gained from Jeeyoon's musical experiences. After a successful reception throughout North America and Europe, the book was published in South Korea in 2022. The book, translated into Korean by the author herself, has made it to the top 3 best sellers in South Korea in the self-help category. Jeeyoon Kim currently resides in San Diego. Between a busy concert touring schedule, she happily practices her piano daily, maintains a studio full of dedicated piano students, and surfs each morning at sunrise.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 9. We had a lot of fun talking to Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh about her life, her career, and her work with the Asian Classical Music Initiative. Dr. Deviatkina-Loh performs on violin and viola, and she is also a pedagogue, sharing her knowledge in various settings across the world. She's the president of the 2024 ACMI @ MSMU conference at Mount Saint Mary's University on April 13-14, 2024. It's open to the public and will feature performers, composers, and scholars. Originally from Australia, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh received her Bachelor of Music in Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before furthering her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London for her Master of Arts degree and then the University of California, Los Angeles for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2020. She has performed as a soloist and recitalist internationally in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, The US, and China. Her solo album Soliloquy as well as her collaborations can be found on pretty much any music platform out there. As a pedagogue, she's been a speaker and presented at conferences including the Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Technology and the Asian Classical Music Initiative, and also worked as a Teaching Assistant and Fellow at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Beckman YOLA Center, and for the International Grand Music Festival in Indonesia. You can support ACMI by participating in the conference as an attendee or speaker/performer. To apply to be a part of the conference, you can go to this Google Form that they've set-up. To learn more, we encourage you to visit Xenia's website or social media on YouTube or Instagram, ACMI@MSMU's website, ACMI's website or social media on Facebook or Instagram. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

"The greatest lesson that I learned as a gig singer is that your career and reputation are built one chance at a time. You get one chance and one chance only. If I want people to go out on a limb for me and recommend me for a gig, then I have to make sure that I'm protecting their reputation as well as my own. That starts with never being late, always being prepared, and almost never missing a note." Dr. Stephen Caldwell is Associate Professor and Outgoing Chair of the Faculty Senate at the University of Arkansas. He is a nationally recognized conducting pedagogue and scholar, in demand as a clinician, conductor, and composer. At Arkansas, he conducts the nationally renowned Schola Cantorum, teaches the undergraduate sequence in conducting technique, graduate conducting lessons, and the graduate sequence in Choral History and Literature. Since his arrival in 2012, he has twice been awarded the Associated Student Government's “Top 10 Most Outstanding Faculty Award," he has received “The Golden Tusk” from the Division of Student affairs, he is a 4-time Outstanding Mentor, the inaugural recipient of the Paul Cronan Award for Excellence in Teaching with Technology and was named one of the “Top 10 Artistic People to Watch” in Northwest Arkansas.Under his direction and leadership, the Schola Cantorum has become one of the leading collegiate choirs in America, appearing at numerous conferences of NCCO, SWACDA, and ArkCDA, while touring internationally to the Republic of Serbia, Belgium, Germany, and Puerto Rico, and collecting more than half a million views on YouTube.He has conducted more than 40 works with orchestra and has prepared choirs for performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Delaware Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. He has presented interest sessions at multiple regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Collegiate Choral Organization and was an ACDA International Conducting Exchange Fellow in Kenya. He has conducted District, Region and All-State choirs across the country and his original, multi award-winning compositions and arrangements are performed throughout the world. Dr. Caldwell holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado, two Master of Music Degrees from Temple University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rutgers University.To get in touch with Stephen, you can email him at stephenc@uark.edu. You can find him on X (@DrC_UArk) or Instagram (@stephen_caldwell). Visit the University of Arkansas Choirs YouTube page for more information about the UArk Choirs: @uofascholacantorum .Choir Fam wants to hear from you! Check out the Minisode Intro Part 3 episode from February 16, 2024, to hear how to share your story with us. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace HudsonRecording: "Weathers" performed by University of Arkansas Schola Cantorum from the album Wander-Thirst: The Choral Music of Florence Price

Work With AmyElevate Your Life With The SQ21 AssessmentJoin me, Amy Lynn Durham, with Jenny Mitchell, as we explore the realm of ambition, philanthropy, and conscious leadership.In this episode, we unravel the intricacies of the non-profit work-world, dissect stigmas surrounding altruism, and provide practical insights into making a meaningful impact.What to anticipate:Non-profit work-world dynamics and challengesChallenging stigmas around working for the greater goodRecognizing signs of progress in ambitious pursuitsEstablishing boundaries and structures for sustainable ambitionConscious giving and mindful impactStrategies for identifying and overcoming resentmentShifting from scarcity to abundance thinkingAligning resources with core valuesInformed decision-making in philanthropyBuilding trust in admired charitiesPhilosophy of the Underdog Leadership PodcastInspiration behind "Embracing Ambition" the collaborative bookIf you love the episode, please leave a 5-star review on Apple podcast or Spotify, and don't forget to subscribe so you can stay up to date on any future episodes!Quote:"Your can never give more than you are willing to give." - Jenny MitchellConnect with Jenny Mitchell:Podcast: Underdog LeadershipsWebsite: https://chavender.com/Instagram: @jennychavenderEmail: jenny@chavender.comChavender's vision is to help more people do more good. Founder and president of Chavender, Jenny Mitchell (CFRE, DMA) is the author of the collaborative book Embracing Ambition which showcases 12 women CEOs on their journey to leadership. Jenny's podcast, Underdog Leadership helps women move from #2's to #1's in their life and work. Trained as a professional fundraiser, she is passionate about working with heart-centred leaders who are ready to change the world – one mission at a time.  Her company assists clients, across Canada and the U.S., with executive coaching, talent development at all levels of the organization, and facilitation and team building. Before completing her CFRE, Jenny trained as a classical musician and earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts. She brings her creative approach, her drive for excellence, and her passion for people to clients of all sizes.Support the showConnect with Amy: https://msha.ke/createmagicatwork

In this week's episode, University of Texax-Austin Doctorate of Musical Arts, Wind Performance candidate Mike Lebrias also known as @broitsmiike join us for a conversation on balance as a grad student, knowing who you are outside of music, and finding cultural identity.

In episode 57, we sit down with Chelsea Kulhanek to talk about the book she co-authored, A Healthy Democracy's Best Hope: Building the Critical Thinking Habit. We talk through some of the most important and difficult explosive questions that help us become better critical thinkers and how it can save democracy.Chelsea graduated with a Bachelor's of Musical Arts in Bassoon Performance with an Entrepreneurship Minor. As an undergraduate, she had the unique opportunity of critical thinking and informal logic coursework. This training, not available to most students, put her on a unique path and has made her passionate about sharing what she has learned along the way. Professionally, she has cultivated a 12+ year career in real estate and is currently head of site acquisition and development at Crane Data Centers. She also spearheads investment syndications in multifamily real estate with her partners via their company Basecamp Investment Group.Chelsea recently finished her J.D. and won first place in the Environmental Law Writing Competition sponsored by the Ohio State Bar Association for her article Breaking the CERCLA (sir cla) Cycle: Are Federal Brownfields Liability Protections Enough to Encourage Investment By Corporate Buyers?Learn more about Chelsea's work and buy her book:Contact Chelsea directly: chelseakulhanek@gmail.comQuestion-Based Critical Thinking WebsiteQuestion-Based Critical Thinking Instagram Question-Based Critical Thinking YouTubePurchase A Healthy Democracy's Best Hope: Building the Critical Thinking HabitBuy on KindleBuy a Paperback CopyLet's connect: United SHE Stands InstagramIf you purchase from any links to resources or products, the show may make a small commission.

If you were deeply enmeshed in the ‘womyn's' music scene or romped topless through the Michigan Womyn's Music Festivals in the 1970s and 1980s, then you will pulsate with memories of the amazing, kick-ass all-women's rock group, Fanny. Even if you missed it, we hope you can imagine how revolutionary and transgressive Fanny was in its heyday in the early 70s. Which is why we were thrilled to find June Millington -- wild woman, lead guitarist and the band's co-founder -- as kick-ass now as she was 50 years ago. At 75, June and her partner, Ann Hackler, run the Institute for Musical Arts in Goshen MA – hosting a recording studio and  annual camps that show scores of girls and young women the power of rock and roll to be their ‘get out of jail free' card, just as it was for June and her sister Jean when, in early adolescence, they picked up their first ukuleles in the Philippines. You can immerse yourself in Fanny's story, from their origins to meeting with the Beatles, playing back-up for Barbara Streisand, their successful albums and tours and more in the 2021 documentary, The Right to Rock. To learn more about June, check out her memoir, Land of a Thousand Bridges. A second memoir is coming soon and June and sister Jean's latest album, "Play Like a Girl" is available on Spotify and Amazon Music. June still lives by the mantra that "life is music and music is life." We are eternally grateful to her for sharing a bit of the winding path that brought her to this point, as she bravely commits to coming face-to-face with herself at every age.      The music we used in this episode includes: Ain't That Peculiar (Fanny, 1972) Thinking of You (Fanny, 1971) It Takes a Lotta Good Lovin' (Fanny, 1967) Charity Ball (Fanny, 1971) Changer and Changed (Cris Williamson, l975) My Love (Tret Fure, 1973)

Support the Show: Join the community of spinners on Patreon and contribute to the production of impactful content.  Or make a one time donation of your support. June Millington is a pioneer in the truest sense of the word.  She and her sister Jean co-founded the all-female rock band FANNY in the early 70's—a time when women weren't “supposed” to rock.  Fanny was the FIRST all girl rock group to be signed to a major label—and David Bowie was one of their biggest fans. "Co-founded in California 50 years ago by these Filipina American and queer teenagers, FANNY made history as the first all women band to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). As young women who expertly played their own instruments, Fanny bandmates penned original songs that were ahead of their time, with lyrics exploring themes of sexual freedom, war, relationships and identity. "  (PBS Documentary)As the lead guitarist of the band, June took a lot of hits—but she always found a way to rise above.After surviving heartbreak and disillusionment, she and her partner Ann Hackler co-founded the nonprofit Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA) where she serves as Artistic Director.The story of the band FANNY, can be seen in the PBS documentary—”Fanny: “The Right to Rock”.    The film is a comprehensive piece about the band's formation and their many ups and downs, but the story of JUNE is a lovely full spiral story beginning and ending with the healing power of music.We sat down recently to talk about her journey through love, music, spirituality and Spirals.Links:June Info: https://www.ima.org/playlikeagirl.info/solo.htmlInstitute of the Musical Arts:  https://www.ima.org/Fanny Website: https://fannyrocks.com/PBS Doc: https://www.pbs.org/show/fanny-right-rock/Support the show

America's Heroes Group Roundtable Community Outreach August is National Wellness Month Saturday August 12, 2023Host: Cliff Kelley Co-Host: Sean Claiborne Executive Producer: Glenda  Smith Digital Media Producer:  Ivan Ortega Scout's Honor Productions Saturday's Topics: 5:33-6pmPanelist:Michael Manson  - US Marine Corps Veteran, Founder and President of the Musical Arts Institute Chicago 

Sarah Belle Reid is a performer and composer. She plays trumpet, modular synthesizers, and a wide array of electronic gadgets. Sarah holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. She teaches music technology and modular synthesis at universities and her own online programs. Sarah spoke about how she combines her classical training with electronic music production and sound design. She explains how she keeps curiosity and joy central to her work. Sarah and I discussed the importance of mindset and perspective in the creative arts.  Sarah's Learning Sound and Synthesis Course opens again in August 2023! Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, YouTube Show Notes: Sarah's Official Site - https://www.sarahbellereid.com/ Learning Sound and Synthesis Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/ How to Design Your First Modular Synth Patch Free Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/firstpatch2022 Sarah's Facebook featuring her Create with Courage posts - https://www.facebook.com/sarah.bellereid Now's by Sarah Belle Reid and David Rosenboom - https://reidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/nows Support Sarah on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/sarahbellereid Sarah's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@sarahbellereid No Input Mixer Tutorial - https://youtu.be/oUhfkaVUPY8 The Art of Is by Stephen Nachmanovitch - https://amzn.to/44rikXq Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki - https://amzn.to/44MSJIT Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store This episode was edited by Animus Invidious of PerforModule - https://performodule.com/ Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Transcript: Brian Funk: Hello everybody. Welcome to the music production podcast. I'm your host, Brian Funk. On today's show I have Sarah Bell-Reed and Sarah is a performer, composer, trumpetist, modular, synthesis, that's hard to say. She makes a lot of really wide ranging music and one of the descriptions I really enjoyed was that it's graceful, danceful, silk falling through space and a pit full of centipedes. Which describes just how it goes from so many different extremes from more traditional classical sounds all the way to far out stretching the definition of music with noise and a lot of the electronic stuff that goes into it. She's a doctorate of music arts at California Institute of the Arts, teaches music tech and modular synthesis online. I've been watching the introduction to modular synth course, which is cool. Sarah, it's great to have you here. Thanks for taking the time. Sarah Belle Reid: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. Brian Funk: You have a very impressive resume of stuff you do and it's so wide ranging. I think it's really cool that you have this, it's like the nice place music is going, especially music education, where people are starting to take the traditional stuff and bring in some more new stuff, some of the more cutting edge stuff that's happening out there. And it's such a nice thing to see that you're bringing that to your performances, your music, and also your teaching. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, well, thank you. Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: I think for me, you know, I have a very traditional background in my musical training. But I always had this feeling, even though I didn't quite know how to describe it or what it meant, but I always had this feeling that there was something more that I wanted to be able to explore in my music making. And so when I found and was introduced to these more experimental aspects of making music, like improvisation and just experimental electronics and all of that, it really felt like. all of the puzzle pieces were coming together. It wasn't a replacing of everything I had developed as a traditional or classically trained trumpet player. It was just like, oh, now this story makes sense. Now my Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: voice feels more complete. You know what I mean? So it's like it all came together. Brian Funk: Yeah, I've found that for myself too, just over time, the different things in your life that feel so separate from each other. Sometimes they start coming together into this one path and you need a little time to see that happen. At least I definitely did. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Brian Funk: And it's nice too because sometimes the music education departments are very steeped in tradition and kind of resist this stuff. They see it as something that they, you know, almost like a challenge to it, maybe. I'm not sure, but I've run into that myself occasionally with trying to bring in just I teach high school English as a day job and trying to bring in like music production, Ableton Live stuff Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: into it. Not everyone is interested. Some people in the music departments were really excited and other people were kind of like, that's not music. I kind Sarah Belle Reid: Oh. Brian Funk: of got that feeling. Do you encounter that ever, some of those different challenges and how people see it? Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, of course. Brian Funk: haha Sarah Belle Reid: Absolutely. Yes. Both in, you know, in educational spaces and just in the world, you know. with people having different musical experiences, different backgrounds, different perspectives, different things that they like. Sometimes the music that I'm really interested in and that I make is challenging to listen to. Sometimes it doesn't have a traditional obvious hook or even a repeatable rhythm that you can snap along to. Sometimes it's just very... kind of amorphous and more like... sound design. You know, a lot of the time people, some people will say, oh, your music is more almost like experimental sound design than it is quote unquote music. To me, in my opinion, it's all music. Like all sound is music. But yeah, people sometimes express all kinds of opinions. And I've definitely, I've had some challenging conversations with people who don't get it and don't want to get it. But I've also had some really exciting deep conversations that are more based in curiosity. People who don't get it and are like, okay, what is happening? You know, I don't know what I'm hearing. What am I hearing? Can Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: you tell me how to begin to listen to this? And I love those kinds of conversations. You don't have to get it right from the beginning. You know what I mean? In fact, I feel like that mentality of, you know, you have to get it when it comes to music actually can really perpetuate that siloed. way of thinking that you can find in some educational systems, like what I believe you were talking about, where it's like, this is classical music, this is jazz, this is pop music. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I feel like if we could give everyone a little more permission to not understand things and have that be okay, we would be Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: able to maybe blend a little bit more freely between all of these different modes of making music. Brian Funk: Right, yeah, that's cool you Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: say Sarah Belle Reid: just Brian Funk: that. Sarah Belle Reid: a thought. It's just something I've been thinking about. Brian Funk: Well, I guess you probably get a lot of the, sorry you play your trumpet so nice, but these buttons and knobs. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I even get, believe it or not, it depends on the concert and the audience, but I've even had people come up to me afterwards and say, do you, after a long performance on trumpet, be like, well, do you ever play a nice melody on that thing, on that horn, you know? Yes, in fact, I do. Thank you for asking. It's just a mix. You know, everyone has different backgrounds and perspectives that they're coming from, so. Brian Funk: Well, art, you know, especially when it's new, always challenges people and Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it divides people. And that's part of what's nice. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And there's people, I don't know who it's credited to, but just kind of, it's better to have people love it and people hate it than just to have people, okay, I've heard Sarah Belle Reid: Right? Brian Funk: this before. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Have Brian Funk: more Sarah Belle Reid: people Brian Funk: of that Sarah Belle Reid: forget Brian Funk: again. Sarah Belle Reid: about it. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I once had a mentor tell me that early on and I'm so grateful that they shared that with me because it's really stuck with me. If you move someone with your music, even if you're moving them in a way that maybe feels slightly negative or they don't like it or they don't get it, you're still stirring something up within them. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: You're expanding their life in that moment. Your music changed them in some way. It made them question how they think about music. It made them hear new things. That's actually incredible. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so from my perspective, it's not that I gave up, but I let go of the priority of trying to have everyone like my music many, many years ago, and now I'm focused on sharing really meaningful listening experiences with people as one of my primary goals in making music. Brian Funk: I imagine trumpet came first. Sarah Belle Reid: Yep, actually, well, piano way back and then trumpet and then electronics. Yeah. Brian Funk: How did you get introduced into that electronic world? What was it that, was it like somebody, a friend or? Sarah Belle Reid: I was in grad school in California, so it was pretty, you know, relatively late. I had been playing trumpeted music for many years at that point, but I had never even seen a synthesizer. I had no idea about this world at all. And for some reason, I decided to join a class called interface design, which is a class where you actually design and build your own. musical interfaces or interfaces for musical expression. So it could be something that has buttons and knobs on it, like an Ableton push, something that maybe is a MIDI controller, or it could be, you know. anything you could imagine that you might want to use to control sound. So people were building wearable sensor-based things that they would then give to dancers and the dancers would move around and that would give them data to turn into a synthesized sound or to control lighting. And I really wanted to build a gestural interface to go on my trumpet. That was kind of where it started. So I had never used Ableton. I had never used a synthesizer. I had never even used like an effects pedal, but I Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: was like, okay, I wanna do this because this sounds really cool. How can I turn my trumpet into some kind of controller for electronics and visual? At the time I was really interested in like coded visuals and stuff like that. I don't do a ton of that anymore. But so I started there. And then once that thing was built, I realized. you can't make electronic music without understanding how electronic instruments work. So then I started to work with modular synths and more in Ableton and different programs on my computer to kind of pull it all together. Brian Funk: Right, right, so that Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: pulled you right into that world. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's kind of a strange introduction into the world of electronic music, but I'm grateful for it. So. Brian Funk: It's something that I really was interested in when I first started getting into computer-based music. I started on guitar, playing in rock bands, not trained or anything like you, but more grimy punk rock angle. Once I started finding out about MIDI controllers and that you can put them together and map them how you want, it really made me think about just instrument design in general. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Just how amazing it is that certain things like a trumpet or like a guitar or piano have stuck around for so long Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: and still seem almost like these unsolved puzzles that have so much left to give. And now... there's all these new kind of ways of looking at music. And it's a really fun time. There's always something new coming Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out. That's a totally exciting new way to create music that Sarah Belle Reid: Yep. Brian Funk: sometimes relies on skills you have already. And sometimes it enables people that have no musical training at all to Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: create really interesting music. You have, um, can you describe what you did to your trumpet a little bit? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I Brian Funk: I've Sarah Belle Reid: can... Brian Funk: seen some pictures and like, it's, it's kind of, it's like space age almost. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, so basically what it is, it's a little collection. So basically it's run with a microcontroller, an Arduino, which is a little tiny microcontroller that you can get for, I think, 20 or 30 bucks. And it allows you to attach different sensors to it and read the data from the sensors. And so I built this little enclosure that goes onto the trumpet and it detects the motion of the valves, so the pistons that you use to change to play different notes, and also the amount of pressure that you have, that your left hand has on the trumpet as you're holding it, and also the tilt. There's an accelerometer in it as well, so as you move the horn up and down or side to side, it will detect that as well. And then that Arduino, like I said, it just reads the data and allows you to transmit that data onto a computer. And from there, you have to get creative and figure out what you want to do with it. If you want to use it as MIDI to control a MIDI synth, or if you want to convert it to some other data format, which you can do and send it to another program and so on and so forth. But the real music making starts at the computer end of things. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And the device, which I call MIGSI, which is Minimally Invasive Gesture Sensing Interface, remember folks, I did this in grad school. It was very much my thesis, so it's super nerdy. I apologize. Brian Funk: That's cool though. Sarah Belle Reid: But yeah, that part is really just about sensor data capture, like gestural Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: data capture, yeah. Brian Funk: Right. And you have to then, like you're building the instrument, you're building this thing, and then you have to decide what all of that stuff does, which Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: can change for, I'm sure every performance. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. And that's the most challenging and also the most rewarding part. I co-designed Migsie with someone named Ryan Gaston, who I was in school with at the time. And we, I remember we got to the point where all of the sensors were working. The data was flowing to the computer and we were just looked at each other and we're like, what the heck do we do now? Like, what do you do with seven streams of numbers? How do you turn that into music? It's a big challenge. But, um, you know, you just go to go piece by piece and you, you can, basically you can think, well, maybe this when this number goes up that means there's more reverb applied onto this sound or maybe when this number goes down maybe we divide this string of numbers into like three sections and we use each section to trigger a different sound and you start you start small like that and then the ideas start to kind of click as you go Brian Funk: Right, that's Sarah Belle Reid: yeah Brian Funk: pretty much the same advice I give people with Ableton Live and programming your MIDI controllers. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I do a class for Berklee Online, it's a sampling with Ableton Live, and there's a live performance portion, and I explain to the class, like, look, I'm not expecting something ready for prime time at Madison Square Garden or something like that. It's just build it small. Start with one little thing you wanna do. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and try that out because it's different than picking up any other instrument because you have to build the instrument and then you have to decide what it does and then you have to make music and perform Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: And often what I've learned over and over and over again is that simpler is better when it comes to mapping things like mini controllers or anything. In my experience anyway, you often think, well, I have 10 fingers and I've got 34 buttons, like, let's use them all. But, and, you know, some people are really great at that kind of thing. For me, I've really realized that Less is more. Sometimes just three or five really meaningful controls can be more than enough to make an expressive piece of music. Because it's not all about triggering a sound, and then that's it. It's triggering a sound. Maybe it's loud this time and softer this time or different pitches and all of the different things you can do to the sound once you trigger it. I hope that makes sense. I feel Brian Funk: Definitely. Sarah Belle Reid: like I kind of went on a little. But less is more is the moral of the story. Brian Funk: It's the same thing I've done with my live performance set in Ableton. Um, it's the same set I created almost 15 years ago Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and it just gets save as save as, and you just change something. And it kind of started like slowly. It went up and I added things and then Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of got a little over complicated Sarah Belle Reid: Yup. Brian Funk: where I have these buttons might Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: as well make them do something. And my performances, when I listened back to them, sounded like somebody that was afraid the audience might think I'm only checking my email on my computer. So Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: I'm Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: like overcompensating, doing way more. It didn't serve the song or the music, but it looked cool. You Sarah Belle Reid: Right, Brian Funk: know, Sarah Belle Reid: you were busy. You had your hands Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: full. Brian Funk: busy. And by now it's tapered off a lot. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: nowhere near as complicated as it was at one point. Because, yeah, it's just... I agree with you a lot, the simple stuff is where it's at, used effectively. That's fun. You've done some really cool stuff recently. I wanted to talk to you about, it was one of the big things that got me to reach out to you with the creative, um, the create with courage Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: for 30 days or 30, maybe it's 31 days Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: you did just a post on Facebook is where I was seeing them. And just offering some wisdom information, some experiences from your past. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: What, what inspired you to start doing that? Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I was thinking a lot about... why I make music. It's a big question that I actually ask myself fairly often. I think it's just helpful to check in. And for the record, I don't think that there's any right or wrong answer for a person to have. I just think it's a nice exercise of self-reflection to be like, why am I doing this? What's meaningful about this to me? Because it will change as we grow as artists and go through life, I think. I was thinking a lot about this. A couple of the really big driving forces behind why I am an artist and why I dedicate my life to making music has to do with creating and sharing connections with people through sound, as I mentioned a little earlier on, and also joy. It's a really simple thing, but just being joyful and doing what I love and sharing that with other people. And in the last couple of years, as I've been doing more online teaching, I've also come to really, really value the pursuit of courage and creative courage. And in particular, one of the reasons why I teach is because I want to be able to help people make more music that they absolutely love with joy and courage. I want to help people make the kind of music that they will listen back to and be like, Yeah, like, heck yeah. Like, I did that Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: thing and that feels like a true expression of myself. And I am so excited to share that with the world. You know, like, I went for it. I didn't compromise along the way because I was nervous about what someone would think, which is something that I used to do a lot. And I'm sure many people can relate to. You know, I didn't, like, dim it down for fear that it wouldn't be accepted. I just did my thing. Loud Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and... And so those were the values. It was this idea of connection, joy, and then courage. And I was just sort of chewing on it and thinking it over. And yeah, the idea of... walking the walk a little bit and just seeing, okay, well, what would it look like if every day I shared something that required me to be courageous Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and myself and to be vulnerable and just open about what I've learned in life and what I've gone through that's helped me get to where I am today. Maybe that could help people bring a little bit more of that into their lives. And as an added bonus, I can connect with people along the way. you know, through the discussions in the comments and everything on the posts. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: So that's sort of how it came up. And, uh, it was an amazing experience. It was 30 days. And every single day I shared some kind of lesson, um, you know, or experience that I've had in life that has had, that is somehow related to being a musician or being a creative person. And, you know, going through sometimes very challenging times, sometimes really awesome times, and just everything that you learn from it, and how you grow with it. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, there was definitely a lot of vulnerability shared, Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: which I thought was really nice. Especially coming from someone with your background, you have a doctorate in music, right? So like, it's very, it's the kind of thing that I think a lot of people would feel like your past, right? Like you've, you've received the credentials, you're playing the festivals, you're doing all these things that... It's nice, it's refreshing. It's something I've Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: gotten doing this podcast as well is that I haven't had anyone tell me it's easy or that, yeah, I just make music, you know, just comes Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out of me. Like anything, masterpiece after masterpiece, nobody says that. Even Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people like you would have thought that really had it figured out, still have these struggles and vulnerabilities. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, and I think that's part of, that's another really big reason why I wanted to do this is because usually, it sounds like your podcast is an exception to that, which is great, but a lot of the time online, you see the perfect finished product, right? You see the album after months or years of work. You see the perfectly curated social media feed. You see everything going super well. And it can be baffling. Like it can be like, how are they doing this? What is wrong with me? Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: get that perfect schedule in my studio or make a track a week or whatever you're seeing someone else do. And I think that such a big part of the growth that I've been able to have over the years as a musician has come from being able to see into other people's real lives and see them working through... mindset struggles or insecurities or life being full of surprises or like, hey, I suck at this and like, I've got to go and practice really hard. And like getting to see that happen, like see people just go from really not having that skill to like a month later, really having that skill because they put three hours a day in the practice room and made it happen, you know. So I guess what I realized is that a lot of the time online, that's missing. You don't see that process-based aspect. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, you kind of get the flashy Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: finished Sarah Belle Reid: just get Brian Funk: product. Sarah Belle Reid: the, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and then it really, and then it's easy for someone to be like, wow, I'm never gonna be there. Like, Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: I guess I'm not cut out for this. That's the sentence I hate hearing the most is, and it's something I once used to say to myself, I guess they have something I don't have, like some secret ability. Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: So I Brian Funk: like Sarah Belle Reid: kind of Brian Funk: some Sarah Belle Reid: felt Brian Funk: gifts. Sarah Belle Reid: like some gift, you know, and of course people have, we all have our own unique little gifts. All of us do. And, and anything is learnable and figure out a bowl and it just takes some grit and perseverance and, and courage, and you got to take action and do the thing, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: So I really wanted to share that with others and, be honest about how I got to where I am and also what I'm in every day still. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Very much. Brian Funk: That's an important gift really, because you mentioned the joy of it, but this is the very thing that brings so much people so much frustration and Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: self-doubt. And I mean, it's funny when you mentioned also like, why do I make music? Like sometimes I get these feelings too. I'm like, what am I making these silly songs for? I'm like a grown-up now. You know, like, let's do something important with my time. Right. And... Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I think about that and when it's not coming together, when it's not working out, then that's when I'm really vulnerable for that kind Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: of feeling. And there's no joy in that. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: And at least, and you said there's no right or wrong reason, which I think is so true too because I have a lot of friends that just have an acoustic guitar that they strum after work in the backyard. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's not to record anything. It's not to write a song. It's... maybe learning a riff or just because they like to hear the sound under Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: their fingers. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: And sometimes we lose that in this quest to whatever Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: it is, whether it's to make songs, finish things or get releases out. It is a real fast way to lose the joy of it. And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I think with something like music where, especially if you're trying to make a career There's, there's so many safer bets for like careers that at least if you're going to do music, you should be having fun. You should be enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: Cause that's, Sarah Belle Reid: important. Brian Funk: that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the reason you would ever be crazy enough to do this. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, it's so important and yeah, it's something over the years that I have lost and found and lost and found again and what I've realized for myself is that... Joy is something I can come back to on purpose. I just have to be aware of it. I have to remember. I have to remember to be like, "'Okay, Sarah, how can this be fun?' It sounds like such a silly question, but when you're in the studio and things aren't working and you're like, ah, this sucks, ah, I suck. And then all of the stuff comes in, all of the thoughts and the, oh, Brian Funk: Damn opens, Sarah Belle Reid: no one's Brian Funk: yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: gonna Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: listen anyway, and blah, which I call mind trash. That's what all of that is. It's like in that moment, it's not easy, but the most valuable thing you can do is just be like, okay, breaks. And then how can I make this fun right now? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And maybe the answer is pick up some random instrument that you haven't played in a while. Or maybe the answer is take your battery-powered synth out and sit in the backyard or whatever it is that just feels... fun and just come back to that joy and that reason why you're doing it. For me, a lot of the time it's like, I'm not going to do this right now. I'm just going to improvise. I'm just going to play because for me Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: that is fun. And when I start doing that, basically a hundred percent of the time. maybe 90% of the time, it just gets me out of my head. I'm gonna be real. And I reconnect to the sound and my breath and my body and my music and something clicks, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. That's a great question to ask. What would this look like if it were fun? How could I make this into something fun? Sarah Belle Reid: How can this be more fun? Yeah. I also love the question, how could this be easy? That's a little bit of a side note, slightly different Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: question, but that's a bonus power move right there because we are so Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: good at over-complicating things. So I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: love asking myself that one too. It's like, I've got a big project, I've got to get it done today or this week. How can this be easy? Brian Funk: Yeah, I had a really funny and silly one of those moments just like a week or two ago with this podcast where with the art, I finally have somebody helping me do some editing with the podcast. Animus, shout out to him, his help has been so great and tremendous. But sometimes I stick in episodes that are just me talking Sarah Belle Reid: Uh huh. Brian Funk: and I was getting really stressed out. I was like, oh, the art. is going to get all messed up because it's going to say like this number of episode and then mine's going to come. I'm like, oh, what am I? And I was like, why do I need the number on there? Sarah Belle Reid: How Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: can Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: this Brian Funk: like, Sarah Belle Reid: be easy? Brian Funk: oh my God, this is a problem I don't need to have. But it just, it was the kind of feeling that made me like look at everything in my life and be like, what else am I doing this to? Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: Where else am I trying to put Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, Brian Funk: numbers where they don't need to Sarah Belle Reid: right. Brian Funk: be? Sarah Belle Reid: That is some deep wisdom. That's good. Brian Funk: I'm sorry. Sarah Belle Reid: That's a funny example, but it's so true. If you're anything like me, if you hadn't noticed that, you could have agonized over that for like Brian Funk: I did. Oh, Sarah Belle Reid: some Brian Funk: I did. Sarah Belle Reid: time. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: There was like months, like two months. I was like stressing me out. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, well I'm really glad you came to that Brian Funk: Yeah, Sarah Belle Reid: realization. Brian Funk: simple thing. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: But it's such a good question. It reminds me, I don't know where I heard this because I would love to attribute this to somebody, but it was like, we say like, this brings me joy, this brings me joy. And then the person just turned around is like, no, you're taking joy in it. Take joy in it. So it makes that feeling of like having fun and like enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: something for what it is. more of an action than something that happens to you. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: And that again has been really helpful for me in Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: certain situations where I'm thinking like, music isn't bringing me any joy. I was like, well, I have to take joy in it. Like, Sarah Belle Reid: Uh-huh. Brian Funk: what is it about it that makes it fun? I guess it's another way to look at it. So. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, it's valuable. The I don't sorry, I don't know if you want to change topics, but one other thing that popped into my mind is just that it gets to be fun. Like you have Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: permission, permission granted, even the most quote unquote, serious, professional, legitimate insert, whatever qualifying word you want musician. is allowed to have fun, Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: right? And like somehow I feel anyway, maybe I'm just speaking from my own, or I'm certainly speaking from my own experience, but. it almost felt, when I was in school at times, it almost felt like fun was a waste of time. Like fun was not focus, fun was Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: not the discipline that was needed. Fun was goofing around, you know, it wasn't valued Brian Funk: Kid Sarah Belle Reid: in Brian Funk: stuff. Sarah Belle Reid: the same way. Yeah, yeah, like you said a minute ago, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: like why am I, I'm an adult, why am I making Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: these funny songs or whatever? And I just think that, For me, realizing and embracing that when I have more fun, I make better music. It does Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: not mean all my music sounds cartoonish and goofy and like, ha ha, some of it does, but that's not the end result. It just means that I am more embodied in the process. I'm more present, I'm more joyful, and as a result, everything works better, right? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Because I'm moving in flow with myself. I'm not fighting against myself. Brian Funk: Yeah, the play aspect, play music, you know, Sarah Belle Reid: play. Yeah. Brian Funk: play music. It's so important. We were saying we, having trouble remembering things on the spur of the moment, and I'm trying to think of a book now, but it was all about improvisation and it Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: talked a lot about play. Oh, the art of is, the art of is, is what the book is called. I think, now I'm not sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Hahaha Brian Funk: I'll write it down, put it in the show notes, but it... It just struck me like that's where so much fun happens. And when you're, when you are a kid, suppose you're on like a playground or something, you're just making up rules. You're coming up with things on the fly. You're not trying to decide if it's acceptable or if it's, you know, smart enough or intelligent Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: enough, which is something I struggle with a lot with my music. I always feel like I'm not being clever enough. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's Sarah Belle Reid: You're Brian Funk: just. Sarah Belle Reid: not alone. Brian Funk: which spirals me out of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the joy of doing it. But that, when I get playful though, then I'll do something weird that I wouldn't normally do. That would be maybe a little unorthodox that might sound clever later on, right? But it was just because I was kinda being silly or just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: letting go of things. Sarah Belle Reid: letting go. Exactly. You take risks when you're in a playful Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: state. You're curious. Curious is the magic word for me personally. When I'm playful, when I'm having fun, I get curious. I ask myself, what if? What, not in a bad way, not what if no one likes it, but what would happen if I did that? Ooh, what if Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I put those sounds together? Ooh, what if I map my controller in this way? Ooh, what if I do it all backwards? And that curiosity is, in my opinion, is where like... innovation comes from. It's the people who are like, oh, I wonder if I connect this and this way instead of that way. Oh, look, I just stumbled across this cool new technique that people will use for the next 40 years, you Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: know what I mean? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so I love that. And for me, that is like the magic mindset space. If I can get into a playful, curious space, I know I'll be okay. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, it's helpful with other people too, especially Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people you get along with that you're comfortable with. Sometimes that can help you get there Sarah Belle Reid: Oh Brian Funk: a Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, Brian Funk: bit. Sarah Belle Reid: for sure. Yeah. Brian Funk: In watching some of your videos, I came across one that I thought was really, I mean, there were a lot, but the one that stuck out to me was when you were playing with mixers to create Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: feedback. So it was like, I forget what you title it, but basically you're plugging the outputs of the mixer back into the inputs and creating all these. stuff you're not supposed to do. Like you're not allowed to do that, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: right? Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: If you went into a studio and started doing that, they'd throw you out. What are you doing? You're going to break something. It's going to, but you were taking that noise really, feedback and just interesting, well, things people wouldn't think is interesting that would normally think was wrong, but that was something you were using then to create something interesting. Sarah Belle Reid: I'm right. Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: that's a playful thing. That's the kind of thing you might If you let a kid that didn't know what they were doing, just start connecting things they would Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: come up with. But a trained professional would never think to do that. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the technique that you're referring to is called no input mixing. And yeah, exactly. It's a feedback based technique where you patch the outputs of a device back into its own inputs. And by doing that. you are creating a feedback loop and it will start to self-oscillate, which means it will start to produce its own tones. And they are inherently super chaotic and unpredictable. And something that's so fascinating about working with feedback is, in my opinion, is that you, because of the chaotic nature of the feedback loop that you've created, you're trying to do. So for example on a mixer, you know some mixers have the three band EQ like high, mid, low EQ knobs for example. You could turn the mids up and you'd expect the mids to be boosted but it might actually cause the sound to go from a steady tone to like a choppy, sputtery sound. Or you could turn the volume knob up and instead of it getting louder the pitch will go down strange nonlinear interactions because of the way that you have it self-patched. And I love that. I find it delightful and super intriguing because it it's like an invitation to listen in a really deep way. Again a really curious way because you don't know what's gonna happen. And this instrument, this object that is like usually has a very specific role in your on your desk all of a duo partner and Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's like jamming with you. You know and you can do this kind of feedback patching with synthesizers too. It's one of my favorite techniques to use on a modular or any kind of synth. It's not just mixers that you can do it with if anyone's curious. Brian Funk: So you would just patch those outputs. That was a famous thing people did with the Minimoog. They would put the, I think it was like the headphones back into the external Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah! Brian Funk: input. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, the only thing just for anyone who's trying for the first time, um, it's just really important that you have your main outputs should, should always have a volume control attached Brian Funk: All right, Sarah Belle Reid: to them. Don't Brian Funk: maybe Sarah Belle Reid: use those Brian Funk: a limiter. Sarah Belle Reid: in the feedback loop. And, and I recommend never using headphones if it's your very first time doing feedback based patching, because the volume is very unpredictable. So Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: just make sure you've got some kind of master volume control. And I've been doing this now, feedback patching for, you know, well over a decade. and I have not broken anything, and a signal is a signal, and it's all gonna be okay inside the instrument. The main thing you have to worry about potentially damaging are your ears and your speakers. So just keep your volume low. Use a limiter, it's a great idea, and you'll be fine. Everything will be groovy, and you'll make some cool sounds. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, yeah, I can definitely agree with that advice. I've had that situation where maybe I'm trying to record the band and somewhere along the way, I routed something the wrong way and everyone's headphones just starts squealing. Sarah Belle Reid: He, oh no. Brian Funk: People falling out of their chairs. It can Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: be horrifying and scary when it happens. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, when you're not expecting it for sure. Brian Funk: But it's that unpredictability. It's almost like a collaborator Sarah Belle Reid: That's right. Brian Funk: when you get that kind of stuff. My first exposure to feedback was with electric guitars and turning up the distortion, putting them in front of the amp. And you get these overtones. And you can almost get melodies depending on what guitar you have. You get different things screeching out of it. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And it becomes an art in how Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: to. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and it's beautiful. I mean, there's so much music throughout history that, you know, it's a short, relatively short history of electronic music so far, but so many people exploring feedback in such beautiful ways. And it's not always crazy. you know, blasting noise. Like you said, sometimes it's delicate, ghostly tones and Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: little chirps. Like it can be very beautiful and tender even. It's just all about how you kind of dial it in, you know, which just comes down to making small movements, turning knobs slowly Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: and listening. Brian Funk: I've sampled feedback a long time ago off my guitar and I was gonna make an instrument out of it inside a sampler in Ableton Live. And I was really surprised at how soft it came out because it's not that way when you're doing it live, especially through a guitar amp. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I'm sure you probably have family members that are very understanding of strange noises coming out of wherever Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: you're Sarah Belle Reid: well... Brian Funk: working. I have the same thing and my wife is... totally cool about me making any kind of noise. But a year or two ago, I was recording an album and I decided I wanted all these guitar feedback tracks going on, so I had this little amp and just cranked it up. And I was just sampling it, because I was like, I'm going to also make a collection of these so I can have Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: them. And that was the one time she came down. She's Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: like, what's going on in here? Because to just be squealing and squeaking away, she probably thought like Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: I Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: blew Sarah Belle Reid: funny. Brian Funk: up or something. Sarah Belle Reid: that. Yeah. Yeah, my family's put up with a lot. Brian Funk: I think anybody that's making music, even if you're just in a traditional thing without experiments you're looping the same thing over and over and over and over just to tweak things so people around you get used to you just incessantly. It's a really nice way to think though with that sound and useful sound for music can kind of just come from anywhere. There's really nothing that's off limits after a while when you start thinking in that way. Sarah Belle Reid: Totally. I'm working on a piece right now and we... I just spent, this was a couple of weeks ago, but I spent the day at an old, abandoned sawmill, like a cedar sawmill, sampling the big, they have these incredible big saw blades, huge, like six feet wide, and when you hit them, strike them with different things, they just sound incredible, and they ring for like, some of them 15 seconds, like a long decay ring. Just gorgeous. cedar logs that hadn't been cut into boards yet. And they're all different thicknesses and different lengths. And so if you whack them with like a stick, they're like, like different, they're like giant woodblocks, but like low, like base Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: woodblocks. And they all have different pitches. It's beautiful. And so I've been using all of those types of sounds as like percussion for this piece, as opposed to using, you know, real drums. It's all Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: just clanging metal from, you know, from the sawmill and pots and pans are my favorite. I mean, your kitchen is the ultimate sample playground. I'm sure you've told people that a million times, but like open up the cupboards, get the pots Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: and pans. Yeah. Brian Funk: And the kitchens usually have a cool reverb to them. Maybe they're like, it's not like carpeting usually in kitchens, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: so they kind of have like this room sound. We do an assignment with the Berkeley class where you just go through your day and just find sounds. Your normal routine, but like listen, pay attention. And so many people never get past breakfast, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: you know, because the kitchen is just loaded with appliances Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: and different Sarah Belle Reid: I love Brian Funk: pots Sarah Belle Reid: that. Brian Funk: and pans and jugs. It's really cool. And everyone's is different. You would think after a while that everyone's song would sound the same, or everyone's just sampling their kitchen. But every, that's like what I think is some of the beauty of it too, is that just everyone's atmosphere is unique, especially when you start adding up all the individual pieces. Maybe Sarah Belle Reid: course. Brian Funk: we have a pot and pan that sounds similar, but once we start opening cabinets and drawers and then we got a whole new palette. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. And also how you, you know, what you do to those samples, right? Like, do Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: you use the slam of the cabinet door as like a little percussive hit or do you time stretch it or do you, you know, speed it up so it's this like really high little piccolo sound, you know? That's where it gets really... really individualistic. Some people, some person might hear a melody in the way that the doors close and make a whole piece about that and someone else might not hear that and instead they might hear like a really awesome rhythm and they might run with that. So I think yeah music is everywhere. Anything is an instrument. It all comes back to curiosity to me. It's just a big loop. It's Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: a big feedback loop. Yeah. Brian Funk: Positive feedback loop. Do you use any particular gear to do this? Do you have like some giant rig with furry microphone windscreens? Sarah Belle Reid: Honestly, it depends if I'm in my, so when I can, I bring things into my studio just so that I can record in a more acoustically dampened space, but often if I'm out and about, I'm just using a simple Zoom field recorder, nothing fancy. It does, it could certainly be a fancier setup, but I. I haven't upgraded anything yet and it's actually been years and it works well. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: Most important thing to get, which I didn't get early on, is like a good wind sock of some kind or windscreen, because that's the Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: one thing that will really rain on your parade when you're trying to record outside is the KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Brian Funk: Yeah, just that low rumble of the wind. Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: It's more, in my opinion, it's more important to get the sounds and like, be creative with them than it is to get the most perfect, Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: high quality, pristine recording. Um, Brian Funk: I say the same exact thing. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: You're better off to have it. And you have a Sarah Belle Reid: I, Brian Funk: phone probably Sarah Belle Reid: that's what Brian Funk: on Sarah Belle Reid: I was Brian Funk: you. Sarah Belle Reid: just about to say is I've even, I've even recorded samples on my phone. I don't do that anymore because I have this zoom recorder, which is great, but that's how I started was just using my computer mic, like a built-in mic and my phone and just voice memo and everything. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And. It's fine. It's a place to start. Brian Funk: I was doing a class a week ago with Berkeley. And I was like, oh, I'm going to do this. I was trying to sample my voice through this microphone, but for whatever reason, my interface wasn't connecting with my Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: computer. So I had those Apple AirPod, not Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: these ones, but the ones with the wire. So they were old ones when they still had the eighth inch jack. So however long Sarah Belle Reid: Hmm. Brian Funk: ago that was. And I just sampled my voice through it to make an instrument that I could put inside a sampler. And I loved the quality of that cheap mic. In some ways, I almost like the bad mic better. Because once you start stretching it, repitching Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: it, weird things happen that aren't in the clean recording Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: that you can get, Sarah Belle Reid: totally. Yeah, I think it's Brian Funk: it's Sarah Belle Reid: all Brian Funk: important Sarah Belle Reid: just. Brian Funk: to just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: get it. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's just get it make start making things you can always upgrade like your gear later if you want to but start making stuff now. And you never know like you're to your point, you might end up liking it even better. You're not the first person I've heard you say who says that it's like, there's just some kind of magical quality about that. You know, kind of quote unquote crappy quality, bad recording. It's like actually Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: got some life to it, you know? Brian Funk: I find sometimes in the context of a recording, that quality helps the sound kind of stick out Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: where it doesn't get lost in all the other really nice recordings. It's got its own little texture, its own little Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: space in the mix that you can really dial in. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: So you've got a course that's about to start up, you said, Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: learning sound and synthesis. Sarah Belle Reid: that's right. Brian Funk: So that sounds like fun after we've been talking a little bit about some of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: your philosophies in there, I'm sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah. Yeah. That is, it's a, so it's next round is starting in late August and it opens every year, twice a year. But it's, as the name suggests, learning sound and synthesis. It's a class that's all about sound design and making music with modular synths and You know, that could be to do sound design for video games, or you could, you know, take the class to make your own music, your own electronic music, dance music, experimental music. A lot of folks are in the class with a focus on film scoring. Basically, what I teach is a very, very comprehensive how-to and synthesis technique. course that focuses on universal synthesis concepts rather than specific instruments because I'm really interested in giving people you know, the technique and the knowledge that they need to use any instrument they want, whether it's a virtual synth that runs on their computer or the synth inside of Ableton or some Moog desktop synth or a keyboard synth or whatever. And I don't want to, you know, lock people out of the class by saying, sorry, if you don't have this one particular Euro Rack, you can't come and learn. So I teach using VCV Rack, which is a really amazing free modular synth. program that runs on your computer. And I really, really love it. And yeah, we start there and people go a million directions Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: from, excuse me, from there. Brian Funk: Well, that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: cool because so much of it is based off these building blocks. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: And that's something I didn't know when I first tried to play a synthesizer. I didn't understand that there were these commonalities Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: between all of them. They all looked like different spaceships to me. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And I felt like I had to learn every single one, but soon you start to see the pieces and how they Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: come together. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly, that's the thing that all of my students say and it's so exciting when they get to that point. Usually a month or a month and a half into the class, people start saying. oh wow, like I just realized how this instrument that I've had over here collecting dust on my desk works. Like I get it now because, you know, we basically, the philosophy behind the class is kind of like the under the hood approach to learning synthesis. So instead of learning how the... you know, the Moog Matriarch works or how any of those instruments work on the top level, you're learning how each individual component works, like really deeply what's up with oscillators. Not just, yeah, we know they drone, but like, did you know that you can, you know, use oscillators for 50, 100 different things, and then they can be chaotic and noisy and, and droney and all of this and like what's up with LFOs and how can we use as them as sound sources and how can we use them as control sources and all of that. So by the time you go through that, you not only know how VCV rack works and how modular synths work, but you go back to your various other instruments that you have and it all starts to click because you're like, wait a second. I get it. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's an oscillator, it's an LFO, I know how those things work, that's a filter, and you're able to make more music with them than you were able to before, which is really exciting. Brian Funk: Hmm. Yeah, you just start to see the Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: kind Sarah Belle Reid: start Brian Funk: of main Sarah Belle Reid: to see Brian Funk: idea. Sarah Belle Reid: all the connections, yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Right. Do you have a favorite synthesizer? I mean, Sarah Belle Reid: Ooh, Brian Funk: I would say you'd probably Sarah Belle Reid: I don't Brian Funk: go Sarah Belle Reid: know. Brian Funk: modular stuff, but I don't Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: know. Sarah Belle Reid: I am a big fan of modular and in particular, I mean the reason why I love modular is because of the flexibility. I also love, you know, I have a Hydra synth, which is a keyboard based poly synth, I love it. But the reason why I love it is because of all of the flexibility that I learned on my modular that I can bring into how I patch it and how I customize Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: the sounds Brian Funk: gotcha. Sarah Belle Reid: on the HydroSynth because it's very flexible. These days, what I've been really enjoying are very small modular synths. I, you know, very limited. I've put together, I don't know the exact size, but just a tiny little case, two rows, fits in a backpack. And I'm just living with it as though it is a fixed. signal path synth, or not fixed signal path, but like those are the modules. They're not swappable. Brian Funk: of the component. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: and Brian Funk: right. Sarah Belle Reid: you do, of course, make your own patches within them, but I'm not changing them out every couple weeks, which is something that some folks do a lot of in the Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: modular world. And I've really enjoyed that because it feels more like my trumpet or like a keyboard where it's an instrument that I can really get to know on a really deep level that's not constantly changing. And I like the smallness of it because it forces me to be really creative and limitations, you know, are my best friend in the studio is just reduce the limitations, again, less is more. And I find that by, you know, giving yourself fewer options, you have to make better creative decisions and you try things that you probably wouldn't try otherwise. Brian Funk: Yeah, I think that is what creativity is. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: making do with what you have. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: you're in this box. Not necessarily in the module, but Sarah Belle Reid: That's the trouble Brian Funk: I don't Sarah Belle Reid: with Brian Funk: f- Sarah Belle Reid: modular synths, though, is that you can always grab another one, right? So Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I always try to encourage people to keep it small and just see what you can get out of that, because there's always something you haven't tried before. Guaranteed. Brian Funk: Yeah, I don't feel particularly creative when I'm scrolling through 9,000 kick drum samples, trying to find the one I'm going to use in my song. And I can imagine what modular it's, I've not gone too far down that road, mostly out of fear of getting carried away. Sarah Belle Reid: Um, yeah. Brian Funk: Because I've been in front of walls of them. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of like, what? And then to just know that you can always get a new one and swap it out. It's, I don't know. I think I'd go bankrupt real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's why I mean in like, I totally hear you and you're not alone. Brian Funk: Hehehe Sarah Belle Reid: But that is a big reason why like the class that I teach and the community around it, the learning sound synthesis community is it's really, we're really focused on like making music first Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: and foremost. It's not so much about the gear. Of course, the gear is a big part of the discussion because we're learning how it all works and, and people need advice on what, Music is always the number one goal, and I think that really helps. For one, it feels more inclusive. It feels more welcoming. It's like you don't need the big sprawling synth in order to make awesome music with modular synths. You can open up your phone and get like a modular synth app and like, that's fantastic. Start with that. It's perfect. VCV Rack's free. I love it. It sounds really great. There's actually a ton of VCV Rack modules that are direct emulations of digital modules that you can get in Euro Rack format. And they run the same code. and they Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: sound fantastic. So it's a perfect place to start and for many people it's not just a starting point, it's the perfect setup for them, you know, for years. I use VCVRC all the time, especially when I'm on the road. I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: just don't want to travel with like a massive, you know, rig. Brian Funk: Yeah, that's a big consideration when you're playing out and touring especially. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Like what are you carrying around with you? I know for myself, like a lot of times I'm going alone too. And if I'm going into like New York city and Brooklyn, I want to be able to carry everything in one trip Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: because I'm lucky if I park a half a mile away from the club. And I don't want to leave half my gear in the club and Sarah Belle Reid: No. Brian Funk: half in the car. So I've made it that that's been a really helpful limitation for me. Like what can I fit on this table and what can I carry? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Because for a little while I was getting interested in it was wasn't modular, but it was modular ask with MIDI controllers because you're kind of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, lots of pieces. Brian Funk: You got all your little pieces together, so you keep adding to that next thing you know, like you're out of control real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I understand. Brian Funk: Yeah, I'm sure it's so I'm guessing having that kind of limited space is practical as well as great for creativity. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, exactly. I honestly think it's a win-win. I mean, some of the best shows I've ever played have been the ones that I've been forced to. really, really re rethink things because I'm like, okay, I'm flying. It needs to fit in the overhead. I also have a trumpet, so I'm really limited, right? It's like my trumpet case has to come on the plane. So then I'm like, what can I slide into that carry on, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: you know, or into my backpack or something like that? But again, it just. It gets you thinking in a creative way. It gets you looking for sound everywhere in a more resourceful way. And I've found it really liberating. Brian Funk: Yeah, I agree. I've gone to almost no guitar pedals. You know, just really a tuner and a little bit of a noise gate. And it's just so nice. I used to rely on the delay pedal and the reverb and all these other things to make my parts interesting, but taking that away forces you to really pay attention to what you're playing Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and the music much Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: more than... pressing buttons. Sarah Belle Reid: We like pressing buttons too though, it's okay. Brian Funk: It's fun. Sarah Belle Reid: Ha ha Brian Funk: There it Sarah Belle Reid: ha. Brian Funk: is. It's, there's nothing like it, but it, it's such a slippery slope. I think for myself, um, I avoid the like pain of trying to create by adding gear and then complicating things, you know, maybe pain's not the right word, but like, kind of like the fear of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I don't know if I'm going to make anything good. So if I can kind of just fiddle with stuff, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I'm a little off the hook. Sarah Belle Reid: I can relate to that for sure. You can make something great though. Brian Funk: I will Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: try. Sarah Belle Reid: you got it. Brian Funk: Yeah. So where can people sign up for the course? You also have a free one we should mention too. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah! Brian Funk: That was really cool. I've been watching a little bit of that. You have great energy too. I think that's a nice, you know, reason why people should come to you is that you're excited about it. And you transmit that really well over the videos. Just, hey, this is really cool everyone. You should check it out. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, well, I teach because I am genuinely passionate about teaching and about this topic. Like, I am all fully in and in love with what I teach. And so, yeah, I'm happy to hear that comes through. Yeah, I really do it. I do it because I love it. I'm also really passionate about helping people get started in electronic music and not only get started, but go deep into electronic music and make awesome music. Who... who for whatever reason feel like they're not cut out for it. That's a big kind of personal mission. If you, for whatever reason, just feel like you're not smart enough, or you feel like, oh, I'm the least techie person in the room. I've heard that so many times. Or they've got it and I don't have it. Maybe you believe in yourself, but you're just. intimidated, super normal, super common. And modular synthesis is an intimidating thing to get into because there are a million options and it can just be daunting, right? Like where do Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: I start? What do I need first? But at the same time

Marissa Benedict was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Marin County where she started playing piano at age 7, violin at age 9 and trumpet at age 10 (studying with Joe Alessi, Sr.). She continued playing all three instruments until graduating from high school and moving to Los Angeles to attend USC, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance (June 1984), studying with Boyde Hood. Marissa is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Before leaving for Minnesota she was a freelance trumpet player in Los Angeles for 34 years. She is currently principal trumpet for The Pasadena Symphony/Pasadena Pops and plays regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale. Marissa recently performed and recorded Mahler's 8th symphony in the Minnesota Orchestra's Mahler Project, played for Charles Lazarus' CD Merrier and Brighter (2022), Jack Stamp's Chamber Music Volume 1 (released July 2023), and the Los Angeles Trumpet Ensemble's Homage (release: August 2023), featuring eight of the top trumpeters in Southern California. She also toured with the L.A. Philharmonic on their “Boston to London” 2018 tour, and on 2019 tours to Asia and Scotland. She played for the 2019 Academy Awards (Oscars®) and recorded Celebrating John Williams with the L.A. Phil under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel. A very active and in-demand studio player, she can be heard on nearly 160 motion picture recordings, including Spider-Man No Way Home, Avatar 2: The Way of the Water, Lightyear, Incredibles II, Spider-Man Far from Home, Coco, Moana, Rogue One, Spider-Man, Homecoming, Indiana Jones IV, Avatar, The Polar Express, Spider-Man 2, Monsters, Inc., and War of the Worlds. Her television studio recording credits include Star Trek : Discovery, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine, JAG, Commander in Chief and Galavant. Marissa's current trumpet studio consists of 16 trumpet students (Undergraduate, Master's degree and Doctoral of Musical Arts), ranging from Bachelor of Arts, Music Ed, Music Performance, double majors of Computer Science/Performance and MuEd/Performance. All of her graduated MuEd and Performance majors are currently teaching music and/or performing in the Minneapolis area. She continues to recruit and give masterclasses and special guest performances throughout the Twin Cities and across the US and remains very active in the community.